New Beginnings and Old Wounds
by bluirinka
Summary: Nora Weasley, daughter of Senior Auror Ron and Minister Hermione, starts Hogwarts. But will her family be able to save her from the impending doom that threatens the castle? Will they still want to when they discover her friendship with Vin Malfoy? Ch. 9
1. A Parting and a Fretting

A/N – Some people have actually wondered if there's a little Nora/Dane coming up…need I   
  
remind you, they're cousins!  
  
Disclaimer: Half the characters are mine, half aren't, but this glorious world unfortunately belongs to JKR.  
  
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The scarlet train spewed cloud after cloud of charcoal smoke.  
  
"Be good, love," said Hermione Weasley as she bent down to kiss her daughter   
  
goodbye. "Remember, it's always important to get ahead," she advised. "Any spare moment, you can go down to the library and revise for future – "  
  
"Hermione," said Ron, her husband, rolling his eyes. "She hasn't inherited everything from you," he informed her, before turning to look at his beloved daughter. "Nora, I want you to be good…though, if you really have to trod on Filch's feet once in a while…"  
  
Nora smiled at her father and mother. "I'll be good," she promised. Folding in half to peck her brother Troy on the cheek, she waved merrily and went off to the train.  
  
Ron and Hermione both sighed as they watched the gleaming, silky red hair that   
  
completely covered Nora's back to her waist as she retreated.  
  
"I can't believe it," Ron said hoarsely. "It's like yesterday, I was holding her and feeding her the bottle while you were sleeping…"  
  
"I know," Hermione said soberly. It had been especially difficult to let Nora go for the first time, but only Hermione's excitement for what her own daughter was about to begin allowed her to let Nora embark on her journey to becoming a full-grown wizard.  
  
"Well what do we have here?" came a familiar voice from behind them. "It's the   
  
parents of the newest official member of the wizarding world."  
  
"Hello, Harry," Hermione said warmly. Harry was walking over to them with Ginny, their daughter Laurie and second son, James, with an easygoing smile on his face.  
  
"Daddy, look, it's James!" Troy said excitedly. "He's my best friend," he said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Well, we've just seen Dane off, and I was 'not allowed to kiss him in front of his   
  
friends,'" Ginny said, grinning. "I'm thinking that we have to help Laurie and James deal with this sibling-separation anxiety. What do you three say to some ice cream at Diagon Alley?"  
  
Troy turned to his mother with a hopeful look on his face. "Can we, Mummy?"  
  
Hermione turned to the engine, which had just tooted and started to depart from the station. "I don't see why not."  
  
Ron looked at her, amazed. "You sure it's not going to ruin Troy's appetite or   
  
something?"  
  
Harry elbowed his best friend in the ribs. "Don't ruin it for your only son," he advised. "It's a concession. Take it while she's still not in her own head. Only happens once a century."  
  
"I'm fine, Harry," Hermione snapped.  
  
Harry chuckled. "Shall we?"  
  
The train vanished around the bend and Hermione sighed resignedly. "Lead the way, Senior Auror." Harry flashed her a winning grin at her sarcastic use of the title both he and Ron shared.  
  
Troy skipped off to walk next to James. Hermione smiled warmly at her bright son, but even as she enjoyed his youthful innocence, her thoughts stayed with her firstborn.  
  
Ron put a comforting arm around his wife. "Come now. We can't have the Minister of   
  
Magic bawling in public. We've got to 'keep up appearances,' after all."  
  
Hermione gave him a weak smile, then suddenly looked cross. "You're just glad you're getting ice cream."  
  
Ron, visibly offended, swelled up. "That's what I get for playing the part of   
  
compassionate husband," he said gloomily as he paused to let someone pass.  
  
"No, this is what you get," said Hermione, as she tilted her head up and pecked him on the cheek.   
  
Ginny looked back at that moment and raised an eyebrow. "See, Ron? You should be nice more often."  
  
Ron pretended to consider it for a moment. "Nah," he concluded. "Too boring."  
  
Ginny fell into step next to her brother. "So, dear brother, what can you tell me about – " she lowered her voice – 'Operation Deluxe?'"  
  
Ron blanched, then shot an angry glance at Harry, whose back was in front of him, in between the forms of Laurie and James. "Has Harry been divulging top secret Auror   
  
information?" he growled, as he let a group of Asian tourists pass him by.  
  
Hermione snorted. "Honestly, Ron, you sound like Percy." She stopped to wait for the procession.  
  
Ron glared at his wife. "This isn't cauldron bottoms. A lot of lives are riding on this."  
  
"Whose?" asked Ginny, alarmed. She'd had no idea it was really so serious.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes. "Don't think I'm going to tell you. How did you find out, anyway?"  
  
Ginny smiled sheepishly. "I walked in on a fire call," she admitted. "Harry didn't notice me, but I heard the words 'Operation Deluxe.' He sounded rather agitated. I wanted to help him."  
  
"Well, keep it quiet," said Ron, his neck swiveling to make sure no other wizards had heard them. His gaze fell on his son's bushy brown hair, and he found himself missing the presence of the red sheet that belonged to his daughter.  
  
"Why can't you tell us who it concerns?"  
  
"Leave it alone, Ginny," Hermione advised as she eyed Harry pick her son up and throw him into the air. Troy giggled happily as Hermione's heart softened.  
  
"Oh, what, you know too?" Ginny said incredulously. "Is this a conspiracy?"  
  
"Ginny. She's the Minister of Magic." Ron's annoyed tone failed to keep the note of pride out of his voice.  
  
"Still," Ginny said stubbornly. "I've got a husband, two brothers and a sister involved in this. I should know."  
  
"You should have gone into Auror training, instead of becoming a mediwitch," Ron teased her lightly, clearly enjoying making his younger sister mad. "But it's protocol. I'd be putting a lot of people at risk by saying anything."  
  
"Who?" Ginny asked exasperatedly.  
  
Ron turned craned his neck to look back at the diminishing King's Cross Station, now fully serious. "Maybe some other time, Ginny." His eyes lingered on the station before he quickened his pace to stride next to Harry. As he grabbed Troy's hand, Ginny turned to look at Hermione, an amazed expression on her face.   
  
"It doesn't concern…not Hogwarts, does it?" she croaked, dreading the answer.  
  
Hermione said nothing, but the grim expression on her face was enough to send   
  
Ginny's stomach into her heels. An image of the boy she had only minutes ago not been allowed to kiss goodbye materialized in her head.  
  
Hermione suddenly bent down to speak into Ginny's ear. "You're my sister in law, so I'll tell you that there is no reason to panic, and please, Ginny, do trust me on this."  
  
Ginny's fearful gaze remained on the minute train station.  
  
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A/N...Eh. Interesting things are going to happen soon, I promise. And now, to get you all to review...  
  
To the tune of "Tonight," from West Side Story:  
  
Tonight! Tonight,  
  
You read this fic tonight,  
  
And if you liked it will you review?  
  
Tonight! Tonight!  
  
I know it sucks, alright?  
  
But if you tell me what I could do...  
  
Then maybe it will more pleasing  
  
I'll take insults and teasing  
  
As long as you review...  
  
Oh please, review  
  
Harry: And maybe I'll give you a big squeeze....review, please!  
  
haha, i'm crazy. Read on, and review! 


	2. It's All in the Journey

A/N...Oh my God! You've actually deigned the first chapter good enough that you've gone on to the second! I am   
  
SO happy right now. Anyway, this fic was written before OotP came out, and I name one of the characters "Phineas"   
  
because I got it out of this book we had to read in English, A Separate Peace. Total coincidence that JKR   
  
named one of her characters - Sirius' uncle - the same thing. Anyway, hope you like it...and even if you don't...  
  
REVIEW!  
  
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"Nora! Come sit with us!"  
  
Nora swiveled to see her cousin Dane leaning out the window, a broad smile on his   
  
face. Grateful for company, she walked into the compartment and shut the door.  
  
"Hello," she greeted its other three occupants.  
  
"You must be Dane's cousin Nora!" exclaimed a girl with yellow curls. "Dane's told us   
  
so much about all the things you used to do before he came to school."  
  
"Some pretty creative pranks you've come up with," said a brown-haired boy   
  
enviously.  
  
"All courtesy of my uncles, Fred and George," Dane assured him. "Nora, this is Laura   
  
Messinger," he indicated the blonde girl, "Gregory Chatham," the brown-haired boy grinned,   
  
"and Mira Gray," he concluded, pointing at the black-haired girl in the corner.  
  
"Nice to meet you," she said courteously, tossing her waist-length, silky black hair.  
  
"And you," Nora replied, her signature dazzling smile firmly in place.  
  
"Do sit down," Mira beckoned to the space between her and Gregory, which was   
  
enough to fit Nora's slim waist.  
  
"Thanks for letting me sit with you," Nora said gratefully.  
  
Laura and Dane exchanged glances. "We've been there, Nora," said Laura. "Just trying   
  
to return the favor that a few third years did us last year."  
  
"I was afraid I'd have to sit alone," Nora confessed.  
  
Dane rubbed his chin. "No harm in that, really," he said thoughtfully. "Look at what   
  
happened to my dad. He chose to sit alone, your dad walked in, and they're still best friends to   
  
this day."  
  
Nora cocked her head. "I guess you're right," she admitted, "But I'd rather start off here   
  
with some familiar faces."  
  
"The trip up can be lonely alone," Gregory put in. "I sat alone the entire way here last   
  
year."  
  
"Doesn't matter," Mira said dismissively. "You made friends the second you sat down at   
  
the table."  
  
"And which table is that?" Nora asked.  
  
"We're all Gryffindors, don't worry," Laura assured her.  
  
Nora laughed, albeit nervously.  
  
"You sound like a Slytherin," Mira sniffed.  
  
"Yes, 'Anyone who's not a Gryffindor is subject to persecution,'" said Gregory.  
  
"Are they really all that bad?" Nora asked, alarmed.  
  
"No, not at all," Dane waved a hand dismissively. "Slytherins can be a little high headed   
  
sometimes, but Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs are always great."  
  
"You've got nothing to worry about, though, Nora," Laura winked. "You'll be in   
  
Gryffindor for sure."  
  
Nora wished she could hold Laura to her word.  
  
The train sped on past the green hills of England while Nora and the four Gryffindor   
  
second years chatted amicably. Nora laughed until her sides hurt at the recounting of a   
  
particularly humorous tale involving the now ancient Professor Snape and a violently pink   
  
bathrobe.  
  
"It was his own fault, walking into our Transfiguration lesson without knocking,"   
  
Laura said facetiously.  
  
"Good thing that all Max's spell did was turn his robe fluffy and magenta," said Mira.  
  
"Much better than turning it transparent," Gregory agreed, chortling.  
  
Dane, Laura and Mira's faces suddenly all shared the same twisted scowl.  
  
Nora giggled at their antics. "I sure hope I'm sorted into Gryffindor," she said   
  
anxiously, thinking of all the fun she'd miss if she wasn't placed into the House that everyone in   
  
her family had attended.  
  
"Oh, you will," said Laura soothingly. "Don't even worry yourself over it."  
  
Then the witch with the food trolley came in and Nora temporarily forgot her concerns   
  
as she bought some Peppermint Toads and fell to listening to the pleasant conversation. As   
  
Dane, Laura, Mira and Gregory laughed, Nora caught a glimpse of the scenery they were   
  
passing. The blankets of green had been replaced by wild moors, and the sky was turning a   
  
deep purple. She exhaled in anticipation and knew they were getting closer.  
  
Mira and Laura, whom Nora had come to like very much, followed her glance out the   
  
compartment window. "We're almost there," said Laura, reading Nora's mind.  
  
"Good thing, too," said Gregory. "I'm starving."  
  
Laura looked at him in disbelief. "You just ate a box of Chocolate Frogs, and some of   
  
Mira's Fizzing Whizbees, and you're still hungry?"  
  
"I'm a growing boy," he said defensively.  
  
The train suddenly slowed beneath their feet.  
  
"Oh!" Nora exclaimed, as she was jerked forward in her seat. She felt a steadying hand   
  
on her shoulder, and looked up appreciatively at her cousin. "Thanks, Dane."  
  
"No problem," he said good-naturedly.  
  
Silence washed over the compartment as the train's speed steadily decreased, until it   
  
finally came to a full stop. Instantly, there was a shuffle to grab various trunks and belongings,   
  
as well as Mira and Dane's owl cages. The five children emerged from the car. Laura instantly   
  
spotted some more fellow Gryffindors and waved them over. Nora stood silently to the side as   
  
they greeted each other.  
  
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" came a friendly, booming voice.  
  
Dane broke away from the conversation to regard Nora. "Well, cousin. That's Hagrid   
  
calling you. Do try to stay in your boat; I don't want anyone stealing my last year's thunder." He   
  
grinned at her. Nora was suddenly reminded of her father, when he received the owl from   
  
Harry one year ago today that one person had fallen into the lake and Dane had dove in to   
  
rescue them. Ron had rolled on the floor with laughter and proceeded to ask a less-than-  
  
amused family if Heroics was a gene.  
  
Nora didn't note the smile that had warmly crept onto her face. Dane pointed toward   
  
Hagrid, however, and said "Off with you. See you at our table." He waved cheerily, and Nora   
  
turned to approach her old family friend.  
  
"Firs' years! Firs' year – well, if it isn' Nora Weasley!"  
  
Nora looked up into the warm eyes of Rubeus Hagrid, one of her family's oldest and   
  
best friends. "Hello, Hagrid, how are you? What have you done all summer?"  
  
"I bin gettin' ready some creatures for me classes," Hagrid said proudly.  
  
Nora shook her head. Her mother had often expressed her worry that not all Hagrid's   
  
creatures were entirely – legitimate.  
  
"Well, yeh ain't got long until yeh join all yer cousins at the Gryffindor table," Hagrid   
  
smiled, before he turned away and continued calling all the first years to his side.  
  
Nora got caught in the shuffle as nervous faces kept appearing. Many of the newest   
  
children stared up at Hagrid in terror or awe. Nora glumly followed three other kids into a   
  
boat.  
  
The lake was slick and black as the little boats began their traditional crossing of the   
  
lake to Hogwarts Castle. The sky was pink and orange, dotted with purple puffs of cloud. Nora   
  
rested her cheek on her elbow as she took in the majesty of the place she'd been yearning to   
  
attend since birth.  
  
"So, what are all your names?" came a voice from Nora's left.  
  
Nora snapped out of her reverie and regarded the boy at her side. He was looking   
  
strained, but determined to make pleasantries. Nora's heart softened and she decided to throw   
  
him a bone.  
  
"I'm Nora Weasley, how about you?" she said kindly.  
  
The boy looked relieved. "I'm Phineas Roark, but you can call me Finny."  
  
"I'm Terrence Bryant," offered the boy directly in front of Nora.  
  
The three of them turned to the girl sitting next to Terrence. "Oh," she said timidly.   
  
"My name's Amanda Eilmann."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Nora smiled at her. She returned the smile weakly.  
  
Something suddenly dawned on Finny. "Hang on – did you say Weasley? As in, the   
  
great Weasley family?"  
  
Nora's cheeks turned as red as her hair. "Er – yes."  
  
"So of which family are you?" Finny asked eagerly. "Who's your father? Is it Fred or   
  
George? Or Percy?"  
  
"No…no, my father's name is Ron," she said, dreading the reaction.  
  
Finny's eyes bulged, and she could feel Terrence stiffening in front of her. Amanda   
  
looked quizzically from one boy to the other.  
  
"The famous Auror? Harry Potter's best friend?" Terrence asked her.  
  
Nora nodded, cheeks flaming.  
  
"So your mother…is Hermione Weasley…the Minister of Magic?" Finny choked.  
  
"Er – yes," said Nora embarrassedly.  
  
"Wow," said Terrence. Amanda looked confused.  
  
"There's a Minister of Magic?" she ventured.  
  
"Yes," said Terrence, still looking at Nora in awe.  
  
"Listen," Nora said slowly. "Would you three mind not telling anyone? About my   
  
family? It's kind of hard to make friends when people only see you as the daughter of the   
  
famous Auror and the Minister of Magic."  
  
"Of course," said Finny immediately.  
  
"Sure," Terrence nodded.  
  
"I guess," said Amanda, still not quite understanding the significance of Nora's   
  
parentage.  
  
"So, do you have any idea what Houses you'll be in?" Nora tried to change the subject.  
  
"All my family have been in Ravenclaw," said Terrence.  
  
"Mine are split between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor," Finny confided.  
  
"I've no idea," Amanda said helplessly.  
  
"Oh, you needn't worry, the Sorting Hat will make the right decision, it always does,"   
  
Nora said comfortingly.  
  
"What? A Sorting Hat?"  
  
Nora smiled inwardly. Amanda had a lot to discover, and Hogwarts was certainly the   
  
place to do it.   
  
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A/N...don't worry, good stuff is going to happen soon, i PROMISE. but only if you...*review.*   
  
That's right, just *review*. It doesn't have to be long, or nice, for that matter, as long as you  
  
*review.* I'm going to quote Nike on this one:  
  
Just do it.  
  
--Renee 


	3. Squabbles and Sortings

A/N...Just to tell you, I think my Sorting Hat song really sucks. If you can improve it in ANY way, do not hesitate.  
  
And you can DO it...in a REVIEW!  
  
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"Harry?" came a voice from the hallway.  
  
Harry swiveled around in his chair. "Yes, Gin?"  
  
Ginny walked into the room, holding a plate with a sandwich on it. "I thought you   
  
might like this," she said, setting it down on the table.  
  
"Thank you," Harry said gratefully. He paused. "Are you thinking about Dane?"  
  
"Yes and no," Ginny responded. She sat in the chair across from Harry's desk. "Harry,   
  
you'd tell me if our son was in danger, right?"  
  
Harry squirmed uncomfortably. "What do you mean, Ginny?"  
  
Ginny's eyes flashed. "I can't believe it. Our son is in danger and you just neglect to tell   
  
me?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Harry said angrily, cursing Ron in his head.  
  
"Nothing," Ginny snapped. She got up and stalked out of the room, stopping in the   
  
doorway. "I'll wait for you tell me what's going on in James' room. You know, our other son?   
  
Presumably the only one that's going to be left?" Her voice was shaking with rage and she   
  
walked down the hallway, swerving into James' room.  
  
Harry sighed resignedly as he stood and went to inform his wife of the less-than-  
  
thrilling news.  
  
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The boat was slowing down as they reached the underpass that led them into the small   
  
harbor within Hogwarts. As the boat stopped, a witch appeared in the doorway wearing robes   
  
of sea green. Her hair was swept neatly into a rigid bun and she looked down at the tense group   
  
from behind thick spectacles.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, eyeing them closely. "My name is Minerva   
  
McGonagall, and I am the Headmistress of this School." She turned to Hagrid, and nodded that   
  
he may depart. Hagrid gave a merry wave and walked up the stairs through the enormous   
  
doors.  
  
"This is the place," Professor McGonagall continued, "Where you will learn much not   
  
only about magic, but of the wizard community, discipline, and yourselves. For the next seven   
  
years, this will be your home away from home, provided you all behave yourselves   
  
accordingly."  
  
She paused for emphasis, and the first years waited in stony silence.  
  
"Right now, however, you will be Sorted into one of four honorable Houses; Hufflepuff,   
  
Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Your house will be your home within Hogwarts. It is   
  
usually where you find your best of friends, something of a family. Each house has produced   
  
admirable and powerful wizards, no house is better than another."  
  
Someone snorted in the back of the group. Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed, but she   
  
continued her speech.  
  
"As the days go by, you will earn House points for yourselves by demonstrating prowess   
  
in any field. Misdemeanors will lose points for your House. At the end of the year, the House   
  
with most points wins the Inter-House Championship.  
  
"And now, if you will please follow me."  
  
She turned on her heels and strode into the Entrance Hall. The first years awkwardly   
  
followed her, trying to keep up with her pace in a place they'd never been to before.  
  
"I'm so nervous!" one girl confided to Nora, who was the closest pair of listening ears   
  
available.  
  
"Me, too," said Nora fretfully. She clutched the girl's clammy hand.  
  
Professor McGonagall opened an even bigger set of doors to an immense room, filled   
  
with floating, flickering candles.  
  
"Look at the ceiling!" the girl holding Nora's hand squealed.  
  
"My mum told me it's enchanted to look like the sky outside," Nora said knowledgably.   
  
The boy in front of her stopped abruptly, causing her to almost knock into him.  
  
"Whoops," Nora whispered. She and the girl beside her giggled a little too hard.   
  
Suddenly they noticed that the entire Great Hall had gone eerily silent. Nora followed their   
  
collective gaze and found it resting on a tattered, shabby, wizard's hat. Nora thought, so this is   
  
the Sorting Hat, but before she could tell anyone, the hat began to sing.  
  
  
  
It has been a millennium  
  
Since that day long ago  
  
When four great wizards joined and made  
  
A place that we all know  
  
Their hope to make a haven  
  
For young wizards to learn  
  
Forced them to found a great school  
  
For which many had yearned.  
  
And way back then, while still alive  
  
They carefully selected  
  
For Houses of their own the ones  
  
With attributes expected  
  
For Gryffindor, the valiant  
  
And brave struck his delight  
  
You could not entire his domain  
  
Without the chivalry of a knight  
  
For Hufflepuff, the gentle were  
  
Most worthy of her glance  
  
The loyal and hardworking with  
  
An endless supply of patience  
  
With wily Rowena Ravenclaw  
  
She'd only choose the most clever  
  
To her, wits and knowledge would  
  
Solve any endeavor  
  
And finally, shrewd old Slytherin  
  
Would only even consider  
  
The ones with great ambition to be  
  
Powerful, and a winner.  
  
They put their requirements in me  
  
So in the future I could choose  
  
Where to put any mind  
  
Don't worry, you can't lose  
  
I know exactly where you'll go  
  
So do not be afraid  
  
With my help, you'll be Sorted  
  
And then a wizard made!  
  
The Great Hall resounded with applause at the end of the Sorting Hat's song.  
  
"Now," said Professor McGonagall, "I will read your names off this list. When your   
  
name is called, you will step forward and sit on this stool," she gestured to the hat's perch, "And   
  
put the hat on. The hat will call out where you are to spend your years at this school."  
  
Nora and her nameless companion exchanged apprehensive glances.  
  
Professor McGonagall unrolled a long roll of parchment and called out, "Alcott,   
  
Morag!"  
  
And so it began.  
  
A blonde girl lurched forward to sit on the stool. A moment passed, and then –   
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat roared.  
  
The Hall applauded as Morag joined the table Nora yearned for.  
  
"Austin, Pallas!"  
  
The girl holding Nora's hand let go, flashed her a nervous look, and approached the   
  
stool, trying to keep her composure and failing, pulling on her white-blond hair nervously.  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
Pallas relaxed and made her way over to the Ravenclaw table, where many voices   
  
congratulated her.  
  
"Barry, Nicholas!"  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Bryant, Terrence!"  
  
Nora watched sickly as her friend from the boat stumbled over to the stool. She hoped   
  
he would keep his promise of silence.  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
Terrence looked visibly relieved as he leapt over to the Ravenclaw table.  
  
"Cherice, Shelby!"  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Court, Kincaid!"  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
Nora flinched. That was the last word she wanted to hear coming out of the hat's   
  
mouth…er, rip.  
  
"Darby, Nathan!"  
  
The hat took a mite longer deciding with this young man, before finally proclaiming   
  
him a Gryffindor.  
  
"Dorchester, Malcolm!"  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
"Eilmann, Amanda!"  
  
The timid girl from Nora's boat strode with her head bowed down toward the stool. She   
  
sat and placed the hat on her head.  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
Nora clapped along with the others.  
  
"Emerson, Agnes!"  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
"Greeley, Jacob!" A jovial looking boy walked calmly to the hat and put it on.  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Harrow, Lydia!"  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
The girl looked surprised and dazed as she walked over to the table. A boy at the   
  
Gryffindor exclaimed, "What?" But Professor McGonagall continued with "Innes, Liane"   
  
("SLYTHERIN!")  
  
Almost half the people had been sorted already. Cursing her alphabetical destiny, Nora   
  
knew that she could stand the anticipation almost no longer.  
  
"LeMange, Thatcher!"  
  
Nora's heart stopped as she turned to the boy now standing next to her. "Did she say   
  
Lestrange?" Nora said in disbelief.  
  
The boy shook his head. "No, LeMange – oh, that's me!" he said, as Professor   
  
McGonagall had just called out "Kingsley, Jeffrey!" Nora looked on enviously as he joined the   
  
Gryffindor table. Next was Constance Knowles, who was deemed a Hufflepuff, and then –   
  
"Malfoy, Vincent!"  
  
A hush fell over the Great Hall. Nora froze. A Malfoy?  
  
A tanned boy with light brown hair walked nervously over to the Sorting Hat. He put it   
  
on, and almost immediately it yelled out –   
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Nora blinked. Gryffindor? A Malfoy in Gryffindor. She watched the boy, a broad grin   
  
on his face, hurry up to the Gryffindor table, where only the first years congratulated him.   
  
Everyone else just stared. No one even noticed as Nancy Maylor became a Hufflepuff.  
  
Nora was still trying to grasp the concept of a Malfoy in Gryffindor and missed   
  
Shannon O'Rourke become a Ravenclaw, then Mortimer Rasmusen joining the Slytherins. She   
  
snapped back into attention as "Roark, Phineas" was called. She watched as her final companion   
  
from the boat ride was announced a Gryffindor. He strolled over to his table and took his place   
  
next to Vincent Malfoy, whom he eyed carefully. Vincent seemed oblivious to his odd reception   
  
as he listened interestedly to the boy who Nora remembered was named Nathan Davis.  
  
"Sorben, Jessica" was declared a Ravenclaw, followed by "Snarling, Valerie," a condescing-  
  
looking girl who was sent to Slytherin. Ferris Stevens took a place next to Amanda Eilmann at   
  
the Hufflepuff table, and then two girls, Sandrine Trilson and Alexandria Townsend, made their   
  
way over to the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Umber, Patrick!"  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"Van Gellis, Rudyardt!"  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
"Weasley, Nora!"  
  
Nora's eyes widened as she floated over to the Sorting Hat. She vaguely noted that the   
  
only person left was a black boy, looking as though his knees were about to give, before the   
  
hat's brim covered her eyes.  
  
"Ah, another Weasley, eh?" said a tiny voice somewhere in the depths of her head.  
  
Y-yes. Even Nora's thoughts were stuttering.  
  
"Well, where should I put you?" The hat appeared to be pretending to think very hard.  
  
Gryffindor? Nora suggested meekly.   
  
The hat sighed. "It appears so. I just wish for some diversity. Oh well, maybe some day   
  
I'll get to place a Weasley into a House other than GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
The last word reverberated through the Great Hall, and Nora weakly joined the   
  
Gryffindor table. At last, she found herself in the place she wanted to be in. She was so   
  
overjoyed that she didn't even notice "Yardmark, Matthew" becoming a Ravenclaw.  
  
I can't wait to tell mum and dad, she thought happily, as the conversations of her fellow   
  
Gryffindors surrounded her.  
  
----------------------------  
  
A/N...Trust me, there is GOOD stuff coming in the next chapter, but mostly in the ones after that.  
  
So please...just please...REVIEW!  
  
--Renee 


	4. So Which Weasley's your Dad?

A/N...yeah, um. review?  
  
--------------------  
  
"So," said a jovial-looking boy of about fifteen. "New Gryffindors. My name's Ian   
  
Warner, I'm a prefect. How about you all introduce yourselves, and tell us where you got your   
  
names from." He turned to the closest first year and pointed at him. "You start."  
  
The boy blanched. "Er…my name's Jeffrey Kingsley. I'm named for my great-  
  
grandfather."  
  
Ian nodded toward the girl at his side. "Oh, I'm Morag Alcott. I'm named after my   
  
great-grandmum," she said, laughing at the coincidence.  
  
"Phineas Roark, but call me Finny," said Finny, grinning. "I'm named in honor of   
  
Phineas the Just, who's some distant relation of mine."  
  
"Oh, I'm Sandrine Trilson," said the girl with dirty blonde hair on Finny's right. "My   
  
mum saw the name Sandrine in one of those cheap romance novels she always reads and decided to grace me with   
  
it," she explained in disgust as a few of the Gryffindors chuckled politely.  
  
"My name's Vincent Malfoy," said the tan boy next to Sandrine. "My mum just liked   
  
the name Vincent, but you could call me Vin if you like." He smiled good-naturedly as everyone   
  
gaped at him. Nora, too, was astounded at the lack of attitude. This was certainly a strange   
  
Malfoy. But then again, her own Uncle Percy was something of a black sheep himself. It wasn't   
  
unheard of.  
  
Many of the Gryffindors stared at him. "Are you any relation to Draco Malfoy?" asked   
  
someone further down the table. Nora recognized the voice as belonging to her cousin Robert,   
  
her Uncle George and Aunt Katie's son.  
  
Vin screwed up his face. "Oh, them," he said disdainfully. "Yeah, they're distant   
  
cousins. We don't like to talk to them much, they're so snobbish."  
  
Everyone around him visibly relaxed. Vin finally understood the cold looks he'd been   
  
receiving. "Oh, is that why everyone was less than thrilled with my arrival?" He shook his   
  
head. "I should have known."  
  
"Right," said Ian Warner. "You next," he said, pointing at the girl next to Vin.  
  
"Alexandria Townsend," she told the table at large. "Named for Alexandria the   
  
Gracious. Unfortunately, the name's so long you can make twelve nicknames out of it. Alex,   
  
Sandy, Dria, take your pick."  
  
It was Nora's turn next. "I'm Nora Weasley, and I'm also named after a long-named   
  
witch of the past, Eleanor the Wise."  
  
Ian turned to look at Nora's cousin Robert. "Any relation to this here oaf?" he asked,   
  
jerking his thumb in Robert's direction.  
  
Rob winked at Nora.   
  
"Yes, we're cousins," Nora replied.  
  
"Whatever gave you the clue that they were related?" asked the girl across from Ian.   
  
"Could it be the red hair?"  
  
Nora felt her cheeks turn red.  
  
"So, which of Rob's uncles is your father?" Ian asked her.  
  
"Hey, she could be my Aunt's daughter," said Robert difficultly.  
  
"Then she'd be Nora Potter, Robert, you'll have to be smarter to put one over on us,"   
  
said the girl, her eyes glittering.  
  
"Is it Bill? Or Fred? Ron? Percy?" Ian queried.  
  
"Ron," Nora said meekly.  
  
"Really?" asked the girl. "Your father's Ron Weasley? So your mum's Hermione   
  
Weasley?"  
  
"She is," Nora agreed.  
  
Ian may have sensed Nora's growing despair, for he announced "Alright, that's   
  
everyone, you can eat now."  
  
Nora politely started helping herself to the savory dishes in front of her. She abstained   
  
from talk of families; it always embarrassed her to have people prying to find out what her   
  
parents or various aunts and uncles were like. Then, as she felt like if she were to eat one more   
  
bite of the delicious meal, she'd burst, Professor McGonagall stood up at the Head Table.  
  
"May I have your attention please, students," she said crisply. "Just to go over a few   
  
rules. The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students. Do not think yourself above this   
  
precaution unless you never want to emerge from there again.  
  
"Hogsmeade will be open to all students in the third year and above. The tryouts for   
  
House Quidditch teams will be roughly a month from now. Timetables will be handed out   
  
tomorrow at breakfast.  
  
"And before you go off to sleep, I wish you all a wonderful academic year." She sat   
  
down and turned to whisper something to a black-haired, hook-nosed teacher on her right.  
  
"Come on, then," said Ian, standing up. "First years, you may follow me," he said,   
  
beckoning to them.  
  
"Where are we going?" asked Morag Alcott.  
  
"Gryffindor Tower, specifically the Common Room," said Ian as he led the way out of   
  
the Great Hall and up a flight of stairs. "You'll want to watch this step," he indicated the one he   
  
was about to step on, but instead leaped to the one above it. "Your foot'll get stuck in it."  
  
The eight first year Gryffindors took great pains to avoid the offending step.  
  
"Where is the common room?" Jeffrey Kingsley wondered out loud.  
  
"It'll be hard to find at first," Ian admitted, "But it's behind a portrait of a woman that   
  
we just call the Fat Lady. Don't worry though, you need a password to get in."  
  
"How far is this place?" huffed Alexandria Townsend as they trudged their way up yet   
  
another flight of stairs. Ian had led them through a secret passage behind a tapestry, which had   
  
gotten a few exclamations from the first years.  
  
"Nearly there," said Ian amicably. He swerved left into a small corridor and they found   
  
themselves in front of a portrait of an obese woman in a frilly pink dress.  
  
"Password's bumpkin muffin," Ian announced, and the portrait swung forward to   
  
reveal a large hole in the wall. The group scrambled through to find themselves in a large room   
  
with comfortable-looking furniture and a merrily crackling fire.  
  
Home at last, Nora thought giddily.  
  
"Anyway," said Ian, "The seventh years who left last year had the top dormitories. Sorry,"   
  
he chuckled, "But you'll all have to climb more stairs than anyone else to get to bed."  
  
No one seemed to mind. They all plodded up the spiral staircase and Ian called after   
  
them, "Girls on the left, Boys on the right!"  
  
After a winding climb, they reached the top floor of Gryffindor Tower. The girls said   
  
goodnight to the boys before turning left into their dormitory. Nora discovered her things by a   
  
four-poster bed underneath a window. She immediately sprawled out on her bed, a huge grin   
  
on her face.  
  
"What a beautiful room!" Morag squealed. She ran over to the bed, at the foot of which   
  
lay her belongings.  
  
"It really is," Alexandria agreed as she sat on her bed. "I'm so glad to be here."  
  
"Never mind that," Sandrine giggled. "Did you see some of the boys in our year?"  
  
"Absolutely adorable," Nora agreed.  
  
"Who do you think was the cutest?" Morag sat up, winding her blonde zigzags around   
  
her forefinger and pulling gingerly.  
  
"Hmm…I'm not sure," said Alexandria mischievously. "That Jeffrey Kingsley was pretty   
  
good-looking."  
  
"And that Slytherin boy, Kincaid Court or something," Sandrine put in.  
  
"I doubt he'll deign to consider any of us lowly Gryffindor girls," Alexandria said   
  
haughtily.  
  
When they were finally through discussing every boy they'd seen being Sorted, the four   
  
girls changed into their nightclothes and wrenched their hangings shut. As Nora closed her   
  
eyes contentedly and nodded off into a peaceful sleep, her excitement at the prospect of class in   
  
the morning began to slowly taper off.  
  
And if Nora noticed a wisp of wind, an evil whisper that could only be described as   
  
something wrong, something out of place, as it moved over her face and out the window, she   
  
did not acknowledge it.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
A/N...haha...hope you liked that cliffhanger. And now, for my shamelessness - because not only is it begging,  
  
but it's also copying Silver Phoenix...  
  
Another West Side Story review song! To the tune of "I feel pretty..."  
  
I feel happy!  
  
Oh so happy!  
  
Because someone just left a review!  
  
But I would be  
  
happier if that someone was you...  
  
Ron (in Spanish dancer dress, with maraccas): lalalalalalala, la! la! la!  
  
Hermione: What are you doing?  
  
Ron: (puts maraccas behind his back) Uh, nothing. Just wanted to help Renee get some reviews.  
  
Hermione: For the love of god, review. I never want to see Ron in a dress again.  
  
....Yeah, I don't know either. Spare yourselves the really weird review tactics and leave one for me!  
  
--Renee 


	5. Forging a Few New Friendships

The next week flew by as if someone had taking the hands of a clock and spun them around a few hundred times before Nora's eyes. Though Nora's mother had told her that Hogwarts would be a little more than she was used to at the Wizarding Primary School she attended, Nora could never have expected what was thrown at her during her first five days at Hogwarts. There was simply too much to absorb, though Nora was glad that her parents had taken the time to prepare her with descriptions of teachers they had had, from whom Nora would also be learning. Therefore, she braced herself before entering her very first lesson, which was Transfiguration.  
  
Stern Professor McGonagall was exactly how her mother had described her, though Nora held an immense respect for the ancient Headmistress - she had stood by as Dumbledore's right hand woman until the end, then taken his place as Headmistress of his beloved school.  
  
"The study of Transfiguration will prove extremely useful throughout your life as a wizard," Professor McGonagall said by way of introduction. "It is not merely turning one thing into another - there is a lot of theory, power and hard work behind it. I doubt that most of you would be able to successfully Transfigure something on your first try, but we shall see." She set to handing each of the eight Gryffindor first-years a match. As she gave Nora her match, the professor commented, "Your mother had a particular talent for this task. Perhaps you will match it."  
  
Nora bit her lip, and was able to successfully produce a needle on her fourth try, earning her a warm smile of encouragement from Professor McGonagall. She hoped it would not be the last smile she received.  
  
Her father had admitted that Professor Sprout was also one of the better professors; she was kind, didn't play favourites, and knew her subject well, though she informed Nora's Herbology class - which the Gryffindors had with the Ravenclaws - that after the next year, she would be retiring. It was their first lesson, but Nora already knew that she would miss the elderly witch.  
  
"Today we'll be working with Lunaskils," Professor Sprout announced after her introduction to Herbology; it was a double period.  
  
A Ravenclaw girl that Nora recognized as Pallas Austin from the Sorting raised her hand. "I'm sorry, but don't Lunaskils only have magical properties at the full moon?" she said, confused. "I think it's only half moon tonight..."  
  
"Precisely, Miss..." Sprout glanced down at her attendance sheet. "Austin. Take five points to Ravenclaw. We're not going to work with any magical plants today, but I wanted to get you lot used to repotting them as regular plants before we have to do it next week at full moon. You'll need partners for this, one to hold the jars and one to transplant them. Off you go, then!"  
  
Alexandria and Sandrine had already set to work together, so Nora shot Pallas a friendly but questioning look. Pallas immediately walked to Nora's side, and they set to work.  
  
"So, are you happy being a Gryffindor, then?" Pallas asked good-naturedly.  
  
"Of course," said Nora. "My whole family's been in it. I wouldn't have minded Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, though, I hear they're very good."  
  
"Sure, everyone's nice in my house," Pallas agreed, "But we're so far from everything, in this tower at the very corner of the castle."  
  
"Us too," said Nora. "And our year has the top dormitory."  
  
"Ooh," Pallas winced. "Sorry about that. I know a great Foot-Healing Charm, you'll probably need it before long."  
  
"Thanks so much," said Nora, flashing Pallas a dazzling smile. The two girls spent the rest of the period discussing curriculum they'd already read before arriving at the school, as repotting the Lunaskils was work that did not require much concentration. After the lesson, she bade Pallas goodbye, and felt a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach at having formed what she knew to be a lasting friendship.   
  
'Mum would be proud of me,' she thought to herself contentedly. 'She was also on at Daddy for not going out of his way to make friends with people outside Gryffindor.'  
  
With a pang she realized that she had yet to write her parents, but she supposed that they had, somehow or other, found out about which House she'd been placed in. Nora turned to Morag Alcott, who was walking beside her. "What have we got now?" she asked.  
  
"Charms," Morag responded at once. Morag, a half-blood, had been very enthusiastic about all the classes, as she lived in an entirely Muggle neighborhood. She had already memorized their timetables - Nora, who was busy taking in everything about the school she'd been waiting to attend since childhood, knew that if she just followed her fellow Gryffindor first-years, she would end up where she needed to be.  
  
Nora also knew that most of the older-generation Weasleys held the tiny Professor Flitwick very dear. But Nora, whom Hermione had advised to read ahead in her Charms texts, had to wonder if the small Charms teacher had placed a perpetual Cheering Charm on himself.  
  
"You should know," he squeaked at the class, who could not help feeling warm at the kindness of their professor, "That we'll be starting with Levitation spells. You can take this time to look up this spell in your Standard Book of Spells texts." He bustled off to sit on his mound of cushions, and began working on something at his desk.  
  
Nora flipped open her textbook, but didn't bother reading - it had been one of the first things that her mother had advised her to read. Only one other person appeared to have read it, a boy Nora remembered was called Jeffrey Kingsley. He was staring absentmindedly around the room while the other first years fervently copied definitions onto parchment. Nora caught his eye and they grinned at each other. He pulled a stool over to her and whispered, "Already read it, then?"  
  
"Yes," said Nora, equally quietly. "My mum said I should try to get ahead a bit, and she mentioned that this charm was the first we'd be learning..."  
  
"Same here," said Jeffrey, nodding. "Although I didn't really want to at first, but it was so fascinating that I read ahead two more chapters before I got called to dinner."  
  
"Absolutely," said Nora enthusiastically. Reading, especially when the subject at hand was interesting, was one of her favorite activities. "And this was right after I'd gotten my wand, so I practiced for a bit in my room, and it worked perfectly!"  
  
"It took me about a half an hour," Jeffrey admitted, a bit embarrassed.  
  
"Which is customary," said Nora, remembering this from the reading. "Actually," she confided, "I was so excited, I ran downstairs to show my mum. She started crying!"  
  
"Minister of Magic crying, eh?" Jeffrey teased her, a bit louder than their previous tones.  
  
Alexandria shot the two of them a dirty look before going back to her reading.  
  
"She's one to stay away from," Jeffrey said, grinning, before dragging his stool back to its original position, taking the book out, and flipping it to the middle. But not before he gave Nora a wink. This day was just getting better and better.  
  
'I've never really had friends my age,' Nora realized suddenly. 'I've had enough cousins to tide me over, and there are lots of kids in the village that were older than me who I'd play with, but I've never really had friends that weren't related to me in some way or other.' This made her even happier, that only today, she had already made friends with two people, without even trying.  
  
The bell rang suddenly, and Nora snapped out of her reverie. "Next lesson," Professor Flitwick squealed, "We'll be trying the Charms, so you can practice if you find any free time!"  
  
As everyone was packing up, Nora turned to Morag once more. "And next is...?"  
  
"Potions," said Morag. "I heard the teacher's nice, but I've never seen her."  
  
"Hmm," said Nora. Potions was one of the classes that was taught by a teacher her parents hadn't had, so she had no forewarning. It made her rather apprehensive.  
  
Potions, the Gryffindors found out, was taught by a young woman called Professor Marin. All that Nora knew about her was that she was Professor Snape's replacement - her parents would go, every year, to Snape's grave to commemorate his sacrifice. He hadn't survived the war against Voldemort, though Hermione refused to tell Nora the details of his death. "Wait a few years," she would always say, to Nora's displeasure..  
  
Professor Marin was a jovial-looking witch somewhere in her thirties; she wore her thick blonde curls in a loose tail at the nape of her neck. "The main thing to remember," she winked at the rapt class, "Is that there are potions for everything, really, but it can be fun to make them. Just like cooking!"   
  
At this, Alexandria Townsend whispered to Nora, "I heard that before this job, she wrote magical cookbooks." Nora took in this information and stored it for future reference.  
  
"Well, I don't think we have enough time to brew anything today," said Professor Marin. "But I think this is the only class that Gryffindors have with Slytherins, so why don't you take the time to get to know each other?" she suggested brightly. "Carry on!"  
  
Indeed, Nora was so unfamiliar with the majority of these faces that she barely distinguished the Slytherins from those in her own House. An awkward pause followed Professor Marin's request, and instead, Nora found herself in light conversation once more with Jeffrey Kingsley, as well as a boy called Nathan Davis. After a minute, however, a call from the other side of the room made Nora's head snap up.  
  
"Oi! Red!"  
  
Nora hated herself for reacting to the name 'Red,' but it was Uncle Harry's favorite nickname for her - Nora's mum would bite his head off any time he attempted to call her Sneaks, which was what the majority of the Weasley family referred to her as.  
  
The shout was coming from a boy, whose hands were in his pockets. He had black hair that fell casually into his blue eyes. Nora remembered that Sandrine had pronounced him very attractive the night before, and remembered that his name was Kincaid Court. On his left was the boy Sorted before Nora, Robert Van Gellis, and on his right was a girl called Agnes Emerson, whose fat, lamp-black curls looked to be about as thick as Nora's own hair.  
  
"Yes?" Nora said politely. Though Ron gnashed his teeth at the mention of the word "Slytherin," Nora's mother begged her to attempt to be kind to the Slytherins. "It just makes life easier," she told her confidently. Nora was determined to heed her mother's advice.  
  
"You're a Weasley, aren't you?" Kincaid asked her. A few of the Gryffindors had stopped conversing in order to observe the first offical Gryffindor/Slytherin exchange.  
  
"Yes, but you can call me Nora," she supplied.  
  
"Alright then," said the boy, grinning. "My name's Kincaid Court, nice to meet you." And, to Nora's amazement, the boy strode over to her and extended his hand. Nora saw that, behind him, his two companions looked at each other, before nodding and also walking in Nora's direction.  
  
Nora decided to place her trust in the fact that Kincaid was simply attempting to be kind. She took his hand and shook it politely. "Pleased to meet you. This is Jeffrey Kingsley, and Nathan Davis." Kincaid nodded to the two boys, who nodded back. He stepped back and gestured for the girl and the boy to introduce themselves.  
  
"Rob Van Gellis," the boy said at once, also holding his hand out for Nora to shake. She took it and smiled.  
  
"I'm Agnes Emerson," said the girl. As Nora grinned at her, she grinned back, and Nora took in her face: creamy white skin, with a slight smattering a freckles over her perfectly straight nose, which was situated right above soft, pink lips. Nora took particular notice of her eyes, which were swirls of very light gray, and then she felt a pang of envy - the girl was beautiful.  
  
"You know," Agnes whispered, as the four boys fell to discussing the latest Quidditch match, "You have the most gorgeous hair. What hair potions do you use?"  
  
And as Nora began discussing various hair products with the Slytherin girl, she couldn't help but be amazed. Whatever happened to condescending Slytherins being nasty to the Gryffindors? Where was the famous Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry?  
  
'Perhaps,' Nora thought to herself, 'This is just another example of Slytherin ambition. Maybe they've figured out that to get far, you need to be nice to people, forging as many profitable friendships as you possibly can. That's certainly how I'm going about it.' She marveled at this realization, but the bell rang and Nora didn't have to ask Morag to know that dinner was next - her stomach was already rumbling.  
  
After dinner, where Nora continued the Quidditch conversation with Nathan Davis and Finny Roark, the Gryffindor first-years headed off to the common room to start their light homework. Nora opted to take a short nap before Astronomy. She awoke at 11:30 to Morag shaking her gently. Yawning, the eight Gryffindors headed over to the Astronomy tower.  
  
Astronomy was under the instruction of Professor Baird, a portly man with permanently half-lidded eyes and large square spectacles. "The planets can tell you many things, and sometimes are very crucial to magic," he began. "Some spells function better when the planets are in certain positions. This is why it is crucial to know what the planets are, what their properties are, and how these things will affect your own magic."  
  
The rest of the period was spent with Professor Baird, who seemed to Nora a very lazy man, asking the class if they knew anything about Astronomy. Nora labeled this as an attempt on Professor Baird's part to figure out what he would NOT have to teach the class later.  
  
At one o'clock, the class filed out an Nora found Pallas conversing with some of her Ravenclaws. "How did your day go after Herbology?" she asked.  
  
"Not too bad," she said. "Fancy a trip to the loo?"  
  
"Yes," Nora said gratefully; she hadn't managed to relieve herself since morning. "But now I'm scared that I'll be too busy to go to the bathroom every day."  
  
"We'll have to go at night every day," Pallas moaned. They giggled together. Nora loved the feeling of a new friendship.  
  
"Honestly, I could just never understand what my parents meant by 'It's a lot of work,'" Nora commented.  
  
"I know the feeling," Pallas agreed. Suddenly, she stopped. "What is that noise?" she hissed.  
  
For Nora, too, had heard a small shuffling noise. She put a finger to her lips, before warily glancing around the corner.  
  
Someone walked briskly past; Nora recognized the confident stride of Professor McGonagall. Suddenly, she realized that the Transfiguration teacher would be walking right past the hallway where Nora and Pallas stood. Looking positively petrified, Nora frantically motioned Pallas to stand back against the wall.  
  
Luckily, Professor McGonagall seemed too absorbed in her destination to notice the two girls pressed in terror against the stone wall she'd just passed. When the footsteps died away, Pallas leaned across Nora and saw that Professor McGonagall had disappeared.  
  
"I wonder what that was all about," she said suspiciously.  
  
Nora shook her head. "I'm sure it's none of our business." She bit her lip. "Though I'd really like to know."  
  
"Well, I don't need to go to the loo anymore," said Pallas shortly.  
  
Nora laughed at the implication.  
  
"Oh, I didn't wet myself," said Pallas, mock-annoyed. "I've just got other things on my mind...Why don't we head back to our dormitories? Mine's this way." She gestured at the direction Professor McGonagall had just come from.  
  
"Me too," said Nora. She fell silent, thinking about where McGonagall could be going so late at night. Abruptly, she decided to ask Pallas something that had been bothering her.  
  
"Pallas," she began, "Have you also had Slytherins being rather more friendly than is to be expected?"  
  
"You know," the blonde Ravenclaw said thoughtfully, "There were a few of them in Defense Against the Dark Arts who went out of their way to introduce themselves to Jessica Sorben. My mum told me that Slytherins usually left Ravenclaws alone, though, so it was a bit odd."  
  
"Even stranger," Nora picked up where Pallas had left off, "Is that Slytherins usually HATE Gryffindors, and today three of them made sure to introduce themselves to me, and these two boys I was talking to."  
  
"You'd think they'd keep to themselves, mostly," said Pallas, the thoughtful note still strong in her voice. "Well, I suppose times are changing. But I'll be on the lookout for more odd behavior. I have to turn here," she said.  
  
Nora shivered, but she didn't know why. "I'm going the other way." She bade Pallas goodnight, smiled encouragingly, and set off to find her dormitory, thankful that torches burned bright even in the dead of night at Hogwarts.  
  
"Bumpkin muffin," she announced as she arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait.  
  
As Nora finally walked into her dormitory, she felt a wave of icy wind wash over her. Annoyed, she hugged herself and walked quickly to the window above her bed, which was open for some reason. She put on a nightgown and snuggled into the warm covers.  
  
'That was certainly a productive day,' she thought as she drifted into sleep. 'I can't believe that the rest will be even more enthralling...'  
  
But when she awoke, she did not notice that the window was once again ajar.  
  
--------------------------  
  
A/N. Hee. What a long chapter. It's 11:59, so no review songs right now. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it anyway!  
  
--Renee  
  
P.S. Anyone want to beta this story? Mine went on vacation for a week. 


	6. An Unwelcome Escort

A/N - If you're confused...so am I.  
  
Chapter 6 - An Unwelcome Escort  
  
--------------------------  
  
Without giving a backward glance to the open window behind her, Nora set off downstairs, where a pair of first-year boys were sitting and playing what looked to be a game of Exploding Snap.  
  
"Ha!" cried Finny Roark. "Ace! Take THAT," he said smugly.  
  
The entire deck exploded. His partner shielded his face, but Finny received the blast of the explosion. The other started laughing merrily.  
  
"You know," said Nora, approaching, "You should really learn some Anti-Flammability Charms before you play - "  
  
She stopped short. The boy across from Finny was peering up at her, listening intently. It was only then that she realized she'd walked straight up to Vincent Malfoy.  
  
"Good idea," he said approvingly. "Where d'you find these Anti-Flammability Charms? Is it in our Charms text?"  
  
"Er...yeah," Nora stammered, before wheeling around and flying out the portrait hole.  
  
'I mustn't associate with him,' Nora thought to herself furiously. 'What would Daddy say?'  
  
Nora quickly went to the Great Hall, where she walked straight to the seat she'd been sitting in since the Sorting Feast. She noticed that Professor McGonagall had resumed her place in the middle of the Head table. She glanced around the room and caught Pallas' eye, nodding. She then turned back to her own table, and, helping herself to steaming, pink bacon, she once again failed to notice someone sitting down to her right.  
  
"Morning, fair cousin," said Dane, grinning. "How are your first days going?"  
  
"Great," said Nora excitedly. "There's just so much! Mum never really explained just how much work it'd be, but it's such a pleasure to do it, I barely remember that it's actually homework!"  
  
"You won't be saying that come this time next month," Dane warned her. "Or next year. Next decade."  
  
"Well...it can't be all bad, can it?" Nora looked crestfallen. She had thoroughly been enjoying herself, and a bleak future was not what she wanted to hear about at that moment.  
  
"No, don't worry," Dane assured her. "You'll be fine." Suddenly, his demeanor changed into a bracing, worried one. "Nora...have you heard about what happened to the third-year Ravenclaw bloke, Darius Drake?"  
  
"No," said Nora, frowning.  
  
"Oh! Oh, then never mind," Dane said hurriedly, looking as if he were about to smack himself.  
  
"What is it?" Nora demanded.  
  
"I'd tell you...only...well...your mum and dad told me not to scare you," he said in a rush.  
  
"What?!" Nora exclaimed, her face as red as her hair. "Do they think I'm five? I am eleven years old!"  
  
"And if it were me, I'd tell you," Dane said painedly, frown lines creasing his forehead, his bright green eyes filled with regret. "But my mum forbid me, too."  
  
"We'll just see about this," said Nora, leaning forward and turning her head until she found a shock of red hair. "Robert! Robert Weasley!"  
  
"Yes?" Robert said innocently. The twelve heads in between the two cousins turned to regard Nora, waiting for her accusation.  
  
"Er...do you...do you know when the Charms club meets?" she finished.  
  
Robert looked baffled. "Er...today, in Flitwick's room, round eight?" he said, giving her an odd glance.  
  
"Oh...thanks," she said, embarrassed. "I was, just, er, thinking of going, you see, and - "  
  
"Oh, so was I," said someone sitting halfway between the two Weasleys. "It seems such a good idea, y'know?"  
  
Nora's stomach slammed into her chest. The speaker was Vincent Malfoy.  
  
"D'you want to walk up together, then?" asked the brown-haired boy, looking at Nora expectantly.  
  
"Oh...sure," she mumbled, and felt her face grow hot with humiliation.  
  
Dane shook his head. "Well, I thought I'd give you a hello," he said, before standing and walking to the end of the table, where Nora could make out the blonde curls of Laura Messinger and the dark sheet of Mira Gray. 'I wonder if Dane is interested in one of them?' she thought to herself. 'I must remember to write Dad about it...he'd be sure to tell Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry...I suppose that'd be good revenge.'  
  
As soon as Dane left, Morag took his vacated seat. "Morning, Nora, what're you up to?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," Nora sighed. She took one look at Morag's concerned expression, and decided to share her dilemma with her fellow Gryffindor. "My cousin, Dane Potter, just made me do the most idiotic thing imaginable. And now I'm forced to go to Charms club tonight with a Malfoy!" Suddenly a thought occurred to Nora. "Oh, Morag," she begged. "You must come with me! My Dad'll kill me if he finds out I'm walking around Hogwarts with a Malfoy!"  
  
Morag looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Nora, you know I would," and Nora knew she was regretful. "But only, I'm a half-blood, and I'm not yet used to writing with quills, and we've got two huge essays due tomorrow...maybe next week? I promise I'll come next week."  
  
"Thanks," she said gratefully. "I suppose I could survive a stroll to Flitwick's room."  
  
The other two girls from their dormitory sat in front of Nora and Morag.  
  
"What's this I hear about you snagging Malfoy?" Alexandria demanded. "You know he was on the top of my list!"  
  
"That's not what happened at all," Nora said earnestly. She had been gathering the impression that Alexandria was a bit of a Miss High and Mighty. "He invited himself to Charms club, and I - "  
  
"Oh, well," said Alexandria dejectedly.  
  
"But...but you can come with us, and then you'd get to be with him too!" said Nora desperately.  
  
"If there's one thing that Alexandria Townsend is not," she said in a dignified tone, "It is a third wheel."  
  
And she set to eating a bowl of oatmeal.  
  
"Come on, Nora," said Morag, giving Alexandria an odd look. "Let's...go back to the common room, I still don't know my way well."  
  
Nora felt herself being dragged by the blonde girl out of the Great Hall. "Morag, you know your way back perfectly," said Nora, confused.  
  
"Ever get the feeling that some people were Sorted into the wrong House?" Morag asked grimly. "That Alexandria...you'd think she'd make a good Slytherin."  
  
"You know, things are a bit off lately," said Nora, her red eyebrows furrowed. "We've got friendly Slytherins and snobbish Gryffindors. What's going on?"  
  
"I dunno," said Morag. "Bit weird, really. Maybe the Sorting Hat's so old, it's gone senile."  
  
Nora began to snort uncontrollably at the thought of a senile hat, and the thought kept the two girls laughing up to their dormitory.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Hermione Weasley entered her husband's room, only to find him bent over a piece of parchment. "Is that...the letter?" she asked him, trying to keep her voice controlled.  
  
"It is," he said huskily. "I didn't need an official document. All I needed was Harry's head in the Floo..."  
  
"So you've got grounds to send in your protection?" Hermione asked.  
  
"We have," said Ron, wishing it weren't so.  
  
"Well, then, do it, Ron," said Hermione brusquely. "In case you've forgotten, our daughter is at that school, and I will NOT let her be harmed. And neither will you, Ron Weasley."  
  
"I haven't forgotten," Ron snapped back. "D'you think I can even stop thinking about what it must be like for Yolanda Drake at this minute? This is just a bit out of our hands, Hermione. If Dumbledore were around, maybe we'd know what to do, but - "  
  
"Well, he isn't here anymore, Ron," said Hermione, her eyes filling with tears.  
  
"I...I know," said Ron and pulled his wife into a tender hug. "I know...I think Harry and I might go up to Hogwarts, try to intercept Mrs. Drake before she makes a scene. Will you be alright with Troy?"  
  
"Of course I'll be alright with Troy, I'm his mother," said Hermione angrily. "And...I'll call Remus. I hate to bother him and Louisa, but right now, it's beyond our knowledge and we need someone with experience...maybe they've heard of some other wizard terrorist group that hates - " Hermione sounded incredulous - "half-bloods?"  
  
"Next, there'll be bias against pure-bloods, too, you just watch," said Ron in disgust.  
  
"I don't know what this world is coming to," said Hermione, "But I'll do my best to try and keep it clean."  
  
"Right," said Ron. "I'm just going to fire-call Harry now..."  
  
He strode out of the room, presumably looking for a fireplace. Hermione watched him leave, before thinking to herself, 'At last, I'm safe from wizard prejudice...and it's my children who will suffer now.'  
  
-----------------------------  
  
A/N - Pretty short chapter...I'd completely forgot that Nora has a thousand cousins, so I decided I'd stick Dane and Robert in there, too...new chapter will be up shortly, promise. I SWEAR TO GOD, really cool things are going to occur in Chapter 7 - Mothers and Fathers.  
  
And now, to the tune of Maroon 5's "This Love":  
  
This fic is coming along,  
  
I said, "Review!"  
  
Now listen to this song.  
  
My heart is breaking in front of you  
  
Because I write on,  
  
but no one does review all these words...whoaaa...whoaaaa....whoaaaaaaaaa!  
  
Review, review, review! 


	7. Mothers and Fathers

A/N - Okay, thanks very much to swimade...there are so many things that I just don't NOTICE, like the thing about Snape. And you're right, I mixed up Chapters 2 and 3...yeah, that's just because I'm stupid. Well I really think that my Chapter 7 sucks so i'm just gonna...make it different. Because I don't think Harry and Ron would tell a bunch of strange kids inside Ministry information. That does NOT make sense. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it...anyway...  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Chapter 7 - Mothers and Fathers  
  
After a grueling day of Transfiguration and Potions, Nora had almost forgotten that she had yet to attend Charms club with Vincent Malfoy. The thought made her cringe - while Vincent looked to be a perfectly normal boy, Nora just didn't want her father to find out that she was in his company. When it came to the Malfoys, sometimes Ron's hate nearly reciprocated Draco's equally. Thankfully, no one had heard from Draco in years...  
  
Nora sat at a table with Morag, working on the Herbology essay that was due tomorrow, when she heard the dreaded voice behind her.  
  
"Er - Nora? It's nearly eight. Should we get going?"  
  
"Yes," Nora said resignedly. She grabbed her bookbag and followed Vincent out of the portrait hole.  
  
"So - why did you want to join the Charms club in the first place?" Vincent asked her jovially.  
  
"Well - er..." Nora did some quick thinking, and decided that Charms club actually WAS a good idea. "Well, Charms are very important," she began, "And since we probably won't be able to get much practice for them outside of class, what with essays and such, it'd be nice to get in some time we could get used to doing them. And I know the Charms club does some things that are much too advanced for first year, so we'd be getting ahead of our class, which is always good - "  
  
Nora cut herself off. She could have sworn that her mother had said the exact same words to her before she'd left for Hogwarts.  
  
Vincent, who hadn't noticed anything, nodded fervently. "Agreed," he said as they rounded a corner. "Charms are going to be some of the most useful stuff we get out of this school," he continued. "How often are we going to use History of Magic, or Astronomy outside of Hogwarts? Rarely, if ever. But Charms are part of everyday life."  
  
"They are," said Nora. "I'm actually quite looking forward to this now," she confessed, then stopped, amazed that she had just willingly continued a conversation with someone whose surname was Malfoy.  
  
"D'you know, Nora," said Vincent suddenly, "I get the idea that you're not so comfortable around me. Is it still because I'm related to the Malfoys that were all Death Eaters?" he said bluntly.  
  
Nora blushed ferociously. "Well...it's not...what I mean to say is, I have nothing at all against you, it's only that my Dad...well, if he even heard the name 'Malfoy' in the same sentence as 'Nora,' he'd yank me out of this school faster than you can say 'Quidditch,'" she finished, then bit her lip in embarrassment.  
  
"I guess I understand," said Vincent thoughtfully, and Nora was very glad that he was unoffended. "If it will get you in trouble with your family, I can stay away from you."  
  
"No - Vincent!" Nora said, horrified.  
  
"Vin," he corrected her. "Call me Vin."  
  
They had reached the Charms hallway. "Vin...I'm sorry. I suppose I was just being rather silly, don't you think?"  
  
Vin's tanned face broke into a broad smile that nearly made Nora blush again. "Well, then, it's settled. We're allowed to talk to each other?"  
  
Nora didn't have time to analyze the importance of the lesson she had just learned before Professor Flitwick stuck his head out into the hallway and squealed, "Ah, new faces! Always wonderful to see new faces in this little club. Come in, children, come in!"  
  
Nora and Vin smiled at their Charms professor, before walking into the Charms classroom, which had apparently been magically expanded to twice its size to accomodate the weekly club.  
  
"Psst! Nora! Over here!" Nora scanned the room to find the person addressing her, and was overjoyed to see Pallas Austin gesturing wildly that she had space near her. Nora beckoned to Vin and they hurried to the Ravenclaw girl.  
  
"I didn't know you were going to do Charms club!" Pallas exclaimed.  
  
"Neither did I," Nora muttered under her breath, but Flitwick had just started speaking.  
  
"Welcome to Charms club!" he squeaked, clapping his hands together. "I'm glad to see some newcomers! Those of you who haven't been here before, why don't you gather around my desk? Everyone else, why don't we review the Trance Charm? Yes? Well, go on!"  
  
Nora glanced at Pallas, and as the rest of the room stood to walk to the back, Nora, Pallas, Vin and a two other boys came up to Professor Flitwick's desk.  
  
"It is wonderful that you've decided to join us!" Flitwick gushed. "Since you're all first years, why don't you break into pairs and practice levitating each other? That should be fun, shouldn't it?"  
  
Nora pictured herself bouncing along the room in midair on the tip of Pallas's wand. She shot a look at the blonde girl, who nodded at the inference of a partnership.  
  
The two boys split into a pair, and Vin stood helplessly as the odd man out. Nora was about to suggest that he join Pallas and herself, but one of the other boys beat her to the punch.  
  
"Hey, Malfoy," he called. Nora's eyes widened as she identified the boy as Kincaid Court. "You can work with me and Barry here." The other boy waved. Vin looked relieved, and trotted over to the two first years.  
  
"Again," said Nora, incredulous. "A Slytherin inviting a Gryffindor to partner him?"  
  
"What's more," said Pallas. "Is that Nicholas Barry is a Hufflepuff!"  
  
"How odd," said Nora. "Well, shall I lift you first?"  
  
Pallas had a mischievous glint in her eye. "Well - yes. But...what say that after a bit, our aim starts going bad?"  
  
"I see," said Nora, her eyes sparkling. "Alright," she continued, drawing out her wand, "Wingardium Leviosa!"  
  
Pallas immediately began to float into the air, giggling. She closed her eyes and began to spin around in midair, before her head smacked against the ceiling.  
  
Both girls winced. "Sorry about that," Nora said ruefully.  
  
"You just wait till it's your turn," Pallas said darkly, before laughing openly once more.  
  
Pallas was equal to the task; as soon as her feet touched the ground, she said the incantation, and Nora began to spin around the room until everything was blurred.  
  
"Well, now that we know we can do it," said Nora, her heels dropping to the floor, "Let's plead incompetence and play with those boys over there?"  
  
Pallas had her wand ready, a wicked look in her eyes. "On the count of three, you take Barry, and I'll take Court. One...two...three!"  
  
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Nora shouted, and suddenly, Nicholas Barry and Kincaid Court were lifted off the ground and dangled uselessly four feet above it.  
  
"Oh, we're so sorry!" said Pallas immediately. "Our aim was off - let me - here - " she lowered the Slytherin boy, and Nora followed suit.  
  
"Well, the talent's there," said Nicholas, "But the direction needs a bit of work..."  
  
The five first years laughed. "You know," Barry continued, "I've wanted to learn this spell for the longest time."  
  
"Why?" Nora asked curiously.  
  
"Because now we can play Duck, Duck, Fly!" he said. "Come on, who's up to it?"  
  
Pallas's eyes widened. "You're right...we can play it without our parents now. Who'll be the lifter?"  
  
"I'll do it," Nora volunteered.  
  
Pallas, Vin, Kincaid and Nicholas organized themselves in a circle. "Kincaid, you're the duck first," Nora instructed. Kincaid obediently stepped out of the circle and began revolving around the three remaining first-years.  
  
"Duck," he said, touching Pallas on the head, who giggled. "Duck," he repeated to Vin, "Duck, duck, duck, duck, GOOSE!"  
  
Nora was ready for it. She lifted Vin into the air as Pallas jumped to graze his feet, but Nora was quicker. Kincaid returned to the floor, laughing.  
  
"Two points to Nora," said Nicholas. "I'll be the Lifter now...go on, Nora, take my spot..."  
  
They continued the game long after the older students left. Professor Flitwick didn't mind at all - on the contrary, by the time each of the players had taken their turn being the Lifter twice, Flitwick merrily joined the game, often accidentally sending the Goose rocketing into the ceiling in his excitement.  
  
When Professor Flitwick finally called the game to a halt at a quarter to ten, Nora ended up in second place, Kincaid Court being the winner.  
  
"We all need to go through the Entrance Hall, right?" asked Nicholas. "We could just walk together up to there, and go our separate ways."  
  
The other four agreed, and they set off toward the Entrance hall, which was two floors and a hallway away. They discussed various classes and teachers, before a sight that greeted them as they got to the staircase down to the Entrance Hall brought not only the conversation, but the caravan, to a screeching halt.  
  
Six people were crowded around a woman wearing a white fur coat that was bellowing hysterically, clawing at the chest of a tall man with bright red hair, not unlike Nora's own.  
  
Nora squinted at the man...was that...?  
  
"Let me see my child!" screamed the woman in the fur cape. "What have you done to him in this place? Let me take him home! He cannot remain here! He needs his mother!"  
  
"Mrs. Drake!" said Professor McGonagall's piercing voice. "There is nothing you can do for your son! Our school matron will be able to restore him to full awareness in merely one month - "  
  
"A month!" Mrs. Drake screamed. "A month, you'll keep him here when he's in a sleep that's like death? My husband told me about this sleep! He said it was a LEGEND! He said - he said that Darius would be SAFE at this place, safer than ANYWHERE ELSE! And now, Marius is gone, and Darius is in a coma? What kind of people are you?" She collapsed into the red-haired man's arms and sobbed. Nora watched the scene with her hand covering her mouth. Pallas was clutching her arm, and she felt Kincaid's arm across her stomach, restraining her.  
  
"Mrs. Drake, I assure you that Darius is in the best of care here at Hogwarts," said Professor Marin, the dirty-blond Potions teacher. "Hogwarts is protected by numerous enchantments, and no one is able to pervade its defences - "  
  
"Furthermore," said a man with black hair and spectacles, "This is not a coma. This is a purely magical sleep, which HAS a cure, but the Charm is immensely complex and needs more than one skilled caster, and such casters are rare, and we'll need to summon them from as far away as South America..."  
  
Nora did a double take. "Uncle...Harry?" she cried.  
  
The man in spectacles looked up the staircase until he located his niece. "Nora!" he said sharply. "Please - we'll discuss this later - take your friends back to your dormitory..." He glanced at the red haired man, who was trying to control the ever-howling Mrs. Drake. "Say hi to your daughter, Ron."  
  
Ron looked up, a pained expression on his face. "Norling, do as Uncle Harry says...just go..."  
  
Nora could feel Pallas and Kincaid staring at her in awe. She grimaced and said, "Alright, Daddy." She sped down the staircase and turned to walk to Gryffindor tower, her companions in hot pursuit.   
  
When there were only a hundred feet separating Nora and the scene, she heard Nicholas Barry's voice wheezing behind her. "Nora - wait!" he called. Nora skidded to a stop, and turned to face the Hufflepuff boy. He was rather short, and his sandy, curly hair stuck to his face with sweat as its plaster. "D'you think your dad meant to take us to YOUR common room, or our own?"  
  
Nora realized that her father must have thought that she was in the company of four Gryffindors. "I think...he may have thought you were all in my House," she told them.  
  
"Well," said a white-faced Pallas, "We can't go to your common room..."  
  
"Wait a minute," Vin hissed. "I think they're going down into the dungeons."  
  
The five students crept back towards the Entrance Hall, and indeed, the shouting voices were following the shadows of their owners down towards the dungeons.  
  
"Should we...follow them?" Nicholas said awkwardly.  
  
"Well," Kincaid drawled, "My common room and yours are both in that direction, so we have to go there anyway."  
  
Jealousy overcame Nora; here at last was her chance to find out some important Ministry mission her father was working on, and she was going to miss her opportunity because her common room was in the wrong direction?  
  
"I'm going to listen," she said stubbornly. "If they find me, I'll say I was waiting for my dad."  
  
The other four stared at her in awe. "Nora..." Pallas said faintly. "You're eleven years old!"  
  
"What, and you aren't?" Kincaid said placatingly. "Like I said before, I've got to go that way anyway, so...night."  
  
Pallas looked torn, and Vin remained motionless. Nora slowly turned and began to stride towards the dungeons, her childish confidence leading her as though by a leash. She felt Nicholas and Kincaid following her.  
  
"Wait!" someone cried in a hiss behind Nora. Nora swiveled around to see Pallas and Vin catching up grimly. "If you're going to spy...at least do it right!" Pallas chided, and pulled out her wand. "Silencio mobilus," she said, pointing her wand to her chest. She took a few tentative steps to make sure the Body-Movement Silencing Charm had worked, and the others followed her example.  
  
Nora motioned for them to follow her, and she slithered stealthily into the darkening Entrance Hall, and down its carpeted staircase. She swerved into the hallway that lead to the dungeons, and suddenly some words became coherent.  
  
" - married...man that was some freak...nature, and then my baby turns out to be one too, and I have to send...away from me to be killed...other freaks!" screeched the hysterical Mrs. Drake.  
  
Nora tip-toed up to the doorway, which was open a centimeter. She felt Pallas and Kincaid's heads at her shoulders, trying to see inside the chamber. Nora could make out some shapes, but nothing more.  
  
"Yolanda," said the stern voice of Professor McGonagall. "You will calm down at this instant, or I shall have to Stun you."  
  
"You won't lay a hand on me! My father is Andrew Blythe, and he can expose this school to the Ministry faster than - "  
  
"The Ministry knows full well about this school," said Ron Weasley calmly. Nora felt a surge of pride for her father, determined to stay level.  
  
"Well then - then I'll - I'll - GIVE ME MY DARIUS!" screamed the woman, and Nora felt Pallas clap a hand over her mouth.  
  
"Mrs. Drake - " Uncle Harry began.  
  
But Mrs. Drake was thrashing about wildly. "WHERE IS MY BABY? GIVE - ME - MY - BABY!"  
  
"I am VERY sorry about this, Yolanda," said Professor McGonagall, and then Nora's eyes were assailed with a bright red light, and the sounds of Mrs. Drake struggling came abruptly to a halt.  
  
"Goodness gracious," said someone faintly; Nora recognized the voice of Professor Marin.  
  
"May I please be informed of what is going on?" said someone else in a clipped tone.  
  
"I'd like to know the whole story myself," said Professor McGonagall in a dignified voice. "I gather that you boys have not told me the whole story of what is going on in my school."  
  
"You are right, Minerva," Uncle Harry confessed.   
  
"I think you owe me some answers."  
  
"We do," Ron agreed. "You, of course, know about the letter you received, threatening the 'unclean' at Hogwarts. Well...we've only recently found out that this isn't anti-Muggle born prejudice...it's against - "  
  
"Half-bloods," Uncle Harry said shortly.  
  
"Half - ?" Professor Marin asked, mystified.  
  
"What does this have to do with the attack on Darius Drake?" said the impatient female voice that Nora didn't recognize. It sounded vaguely familiar...  
  
"Well, seeing as he's a half blood...if you didn't pick that up from his clearly Muggle mother," said Uncle Harry with exasperated sarcasm.  
  
"Continue."  
  
"Apparently there's some new terrorist-type group that's really against wizard/Muggle marriages," said Ron. "And they're trying to discourage it by attacking the products of these marriages."  
  
"So it is not a personal attack on Darius Drake?" asked the unknown personage behind the heavy stone door.   
  
"No. But we do not know what, or how, Darius Drake was attacked." Uncle Harry sounded uncomfortable. "All we know is that an ancient magic is involved, because one of our useful spies has been able to obtain limited information about this group."  
  
"They're using a series of four stone tablets," Ron said wearily. "But when our spy mind-photographed the tablet he came across, it wasn't in any...discernible language."  
  
"All we really know," said Harry, and he sounded beyond tired, "Is that this group is called the Preservatists. And it is small and elite, because the knowledge is so esoteric. Which makes it harder than in the last war against Voldemort, because there were lots of Death Eaters - "  
  
"But many weren't very bright," Professor McGonagall finished. "I have already identified what ails young Mr. Drake. He is, actually, asleep - but he has fallen into a Black Slumber."  
  
"Never heard of it," said the woman stranger's voice dismissively.   
  
"You wouldn't have," Professor McGonagall snapped. "This was covered only in advanced N.E.W.T Potions class one hundred years ago, my dear, and you are but a mere fifty eight."  
  
"I've not heard of it either," said Ron slowly. "Would my wife know?"  
  
"It should show you how esoteric in its own right the knowledge of this sleep is that your wife would NOT have ever heard of it," said Professor McGonagall. "But with the facts you've just presented me with, I can draw a conclusion as to the use of this particular affliction."  
  
Nora leaned forward in heart-pounding excitement to hear better.  
  
"Black Slumber is a state of consciousness - or rather, lack thereof - where the sleeper seems to have treacherous nightmares. These nightmares actually belong to the caster of this Slumber, and the sleeper takes them on. But the nightmares are very severe - they tax the sleeper's strength to a point that they are hanging onto life by a thread, and if they should be woken up force, they will wake up to the horrible nightmares and live in them forever. If the sleeper is killed...the nightmares would be unleashed on every single person in the world, driving them all into Black Slumber. Therefore...the sleeper would 'ideally' stay incapacitated for all eternity, not being able to die nor live."  
  
A small silence followed this definition; Nora felt Pallas and Kincaid draw back in wonder and terror.  
  
"Then...how could you promise that Darius Drake would be restored to full health?" Professor Marin said in disbelief.  
  
"It is clearly Dark magic," Uncle Harry added, and Nora's stomach fell into her toes.  
  
"It is Dark magic, but the Black Slumber has a cure," McGonagall continued. "However, it takes five extremely experienced wizards to cast the Charms that lift this Black Slumber. Wizards that are powerful enough to cast these charms must be completely pure of blood...it's a win win, by this Anti-Half-Blood group's standards. Not only do they place half-bloods into this sleep, but since we'll have to scavenge around for people whose bloodlines are still completely pure, which will be extremely difficult, it will show the wizarding community that there are hardly any people who are completely 'pure of blood' left."  
  
An even longer dazed silence followed this pronouncement, and Nora knew that everyone who had heard Professor McGonagall's testament was in deep thought.  
  
"We shall have to research this," said McGonagall briskly, and for a moment Nora was in awe of the strength in this woman. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, I trust you will put the investigation of how exactly this attack came about at the very top of your priority list."  
  
"Of course, Minerva," said Ron.  
  
"And, Secretary Trantridge, I would like you to submit your notes of this meeting to the Minister."  
  
"As you wish," said the clipped voice.  
  
"Should we...take her up to the hospital wing?" Uncle Harry suddenly said awkwardly. Nora had forgotten that Mrs. Drake was still present, though Stunned.  
  
"I fear it is the only thing to do...though I would not like to see her wake up in a bed next to her son. To her, it will seem as though he is only sleeping...on second thought, let's take her to my office to tell her the story...we can't have her trying to wake the boy up..."  
  
Nora froze as she realized that the adults intended to leave. She turned, a wild fear in her eyes, and the other four had already taken off at a run to their separate common rooms, the charm making their flight noiseless. Nora and Vin finally reached the Portrait Hole, without any encounters of Argus Filch or his cat, and Nora took a moment to be thankful as she and Vincent caught their breath.  
  
"Finite Incantatem," Nora whispered when she'd caught her breath. She saw Vin do the same, and then he hissed "Bumpkin muffin" at the dozing Fat Lady, who barely woke before swinging forward and admitting the two first-years. Nora climbed through the hole and collapsed in a cloth-covered red armchair.  
  
Vin Malfoy fell into a chair beside her. He sat, speechless for a moment, and then turned to the red-haired girl.  
  
"This is so awful. I'm not a half-blood, but wizard prejudice is so pointless!" he said passionately.  
  
"I agree," Nora whispered. "My mum had to deal with a lot of discrimination, she's Muggle-born..." she trailed off pensively.  
  
"And look how she ended up - Minister of Magic!" said Vin, shaking his head. "Just goes to show you, these Preservatists and purists don't know a thing. Oh, and was that Harry Potter, by the way? He's your uncle?"  
  
"Yes," said Nora, her mind on the poor Ravenclaw boy in his torturous slumber.  
  
"Well...he's half blood too, isn't he? He should watch out. And you should, too."  
  
And with that, Vincent Malfoy walked up the stairs to his dormitory, leaving a thoughtful Nora staring at ominously crackling flames.  
  
A/N - I originally had this posted in both NBOW and NBUB, but I finally decided that it was WAY too unrealistic to just have Ron and Harry explain top secret information to a bunch of strange eleven year-old kids. So I changed...I hope it's better. Stay tuned for Chapter Eight, The Inter-House Alliance.  
  
--Renee B 


	8. The InterHouse Alliance

A/N - Well, now that I've gotten SOME of my retarded errors straightened out, I'll keep going...I will still change the passing reference to Snape, thanks to swimade for pointing that out. And thanks to Lycr for the reviews! I wonder who'll win the review prize...So I just came back from San Francisco, and haven't slept for 46 hours, but I cannot rest until I finish this chapter! I WANT TO GET THIS STORY MOVING. Readers - or, sadly, lack thereof - it is your job to email me and pester me that I should have finished Chapter 12 by next Wednesday, which is my first day of school. bluirinka@optonline.net if you're willing to harass. Love forever!  
  
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Chapter 8 - The Inter-House Alliance  
  
Nora awoke in front of a dying fire, an afghan thrown haphazardly about her shoulders and shivered. She wondered where the blanket had come from for a moment, and then the events of the previous night came flooding back to her in a powerful current that nearly shook her with its overwhelming force.  
  
Darius Drake...Black Slumber...Daddy and Uncle Harry...horrible nightmares...Vin telling her to watch out...  
  
Nora tried to sort out the torrent of thoughts that swam about her head and fell into a deep reverie.  
  
'Hogwarts is being invaded. I don't know how; Mum and Daddy don't know how. But people are going to be hurt. And they're going to need someone...on the inside...to keep an eye out.'  
  
She stood up purposefully, and a casual observer would have wondered in laughter at the sight of a small, eleven year-old girl standing up so determinedly, throwing the afghan off her shoulders and bolting up the stairs to her dormitory. Within minutes, she reappeared in the Common Room newly dressed, and sat waiting for another Gryffindor.  
  
Others in Gryffindor Tower came into the common room in pairs or threes before exiting through the portrait hole. Nora sat, staring at the hearth, in which there could only be discerned a wisp of curling smoke. Finally, the voice she was waiting for greeted her ears.  
  
"Nora?" said Vin Malfoy as he tentatively descended the staircase to his dormitory. "Are you...waiting for me?"  
  
"Yes. I think we'd best all meet and discuss what we heard last night."  
  
Vin nodded wordlessly, and the two children made for the Great Hall. They took the journey through passages and halls silently, each pondering the implications of the overheard conversation. When they appeared at the entrance to the Great Hall, Nora peered inside stealthily.  
  
"I see Pallas, and Nicholas. Kincaid isn't in here," she said fretfully.  
  
"Do you know where his common room is?" asked Vin tonelessly.  
  
"Actually, I think I might," Nora said suddenly. She had heard countless stories told by her father and Uncle Harry at Christmastime, and she particularly remembered one that involved the two old friends journeying toward the Slytherin common room disguised by Polyjuice Potion...Mum had always scolded them not to tell these fantastic tales, but Nora supposed that her mother simply disliked this story because the end was Hermione turning into a cat.  
  
"Well then. I suppose I'll just...nip in and ask Pallas and Nick to meet us outside?" Vin questioned. Nora nodded. They went their separate ways, and Nora went down a passageway that sounded like the one her Uncle Harry always described.  
  
She had not taken twenty steps down the path before two familiar forms turned into the gray hallway.  
  
"Kincaid! Agnes, hello," Nora stammered. "Am I - am I interrupting anything?" she said, her heart sinking.  
  
Kincaid gave her a significant look, which Nora returned. Agnes chattered bashfully. "Oh, of course not! Rob had to go the library, told us not to wait for him, so me and Caid here decided to go down to breakfast. What brings you to this part of the castle?"  
  
"I - uh - I was looking for Professor Marin?" Nora suggested, then blushed at her inadequate lying skill. "She wasn't in her office," Nora continued, determined to make it sound right, "And I once saw her around here...I needed help with those notes that are due soon."  
  
Agnes nodded, and Kincaid rolled his eyes. "But..." Nora concluded, desperate to end her excuse, "She...er...isn't here, as you can see, so I think I'll just go down to breakfast with you."  
  
The three walked back to where Nora had just come from, and Kincaid begged Agnes' pardon and excused himself to use the loo. As soon as Agnes shrugged and took her place at the Slytherin table, Nora and Kincaid swiftly went in search of the others.  
  
"I thought you might 'a wanted to talk about what we heard," Kincaid hissed as a group of sixth-year Hufflepuffs passed them.  
  
Suddenly, two hands shot out and grabbed both Nora and Kincaid by the backs of their necks.  
  
"What took so long?" said Pallas fretfully.  
  
"Agnes was with us," Nora explained.  
  
"Alright. Well. I'm scared half to death, to tell the truth," Nicholas began honestly.  
  
"Me too," Pallas whimpered.  
  
"Truth be told, so am I," Nora confessed, "But I know that I'm willing to find out what's going on. Because what's going on is going on INSIDE HOGWARTS. It's just a question of discovering what exactly is going on..."  
  
Nora trailed off faintly at her discovery that she had used the same phrase ineffectually in one sentence.  
  
"What's going on," said Kincaid, "Is that half-bloods are being bloody sent off into some horrible sleep that they can't get out of until some really complicated thing happens."  
  
"That sounds about right," said Pallas, shutting her eyes, her dirty blonde hair falling into her face.  
  
"Well. We know what's happening." Nicholas sounded determined. "Probably the only ones in the school besides McGonagall and Marin."   
  
"How can the school and Ministry possibly fight whatever this is if the only lookouts they've got are Marin and McGonagall?" Vin demanded. "I'm not a half-blood, but Nora is, and so are you, Nick. Do you feel safe, knowing you're target for this ruddy Black Slumber and Marin and McGonagall are your only protection?"  
  
"Be fair," said Pallas, frowning. "Both of them are pretty amazing witches."  
  
"It's just that they can't be everywhere at once." Nicholas rubbed his forehead, looking much older than one-and-ten years old.  
  
"That's what we should do," said Nora on a burst of inspiration. "There are five of us. Maybe we don't know what to look out for EXACTLY, but...a few extra sets of eyes, watching for odd things is what we need."  
  
"Yes." Kincaid gave no further comment.  
  
"I've only been her for a few days, but I know that if Hogwarts goes down, I go down with it," Vincent said loyally.  
  
Nora was about to agree, but then Pallas realized something and interrupted. "D'you...d'you see what's just happened?" she asked weakly.  
  
The others were mystified.  
  
"Vin...is talking about being loyal, loyal to his school. That's a Hufflepuff trait...coming from a Gryffindor. And Nick, you're talking about being brave...the Gryffindor defining trait. Nora's coming up with a clever line of action...that's Ravenclaw. And Kincaid is agreeing to take part in something for a public good rather than his OWN welfare...which isn't Slytherin at all."  
  
"Maybe the Sorting Hat's off its rocker."  
  
"Like I said; it's really old."  
  
"Don't you see?" Nora cried. "It's...we're...it's proof that there's something of each of the Houses in everyone! D'you know, back when the second Voldemort war started, the Sorting Hat told all the Houses to stand together, and combine their virtues to fight Voldemort? My dad and my mum and my uncle decided to take it literally, and they started this sort of club thing, where all these students get together to learn all this defensive magic...the point is, it was three houses together! That's what we've got to do now! In the face of danger...pool our resources..." She stopped abruptly. "I sound like my father."  
  
"No, you're right. We'll form a - an Inter-House Alliance, that's it!" said Kincaid intensely, his blue eyes serious. "We'll all watch out for each other, and pool our information, and maybe, when the time comes, we'll be able to help somehow."  
  
"This all seems too fast," Pallas mumbled, but then straightened. "But what else is there to do?"  
  
"Let's go hands in on it," Vin suggested. They put their hands in.  
  
"For an Inter-House Alliance."  
  
"No more Darius Drakes."  
  
"Or Black Slumber sleepers."  
  
Nora shuddered involuntarily, and she wasn't alone.  
  
"And we have to keep it SECRET," Kincaid added.  
  
They brought their hands out and stood for a moment. "Well," said Nicholas awkwardly. "Shall we...go to breakfast, then?"  
  
"I suppose so," said Vin, on the verge of cringing.  
  
They filed into the Great Hall and seated themselves. Each of the five members of the Inter-House Alliance was young and inexperienced...each came from quite varied backgrounds and upbringings...but the moment they united in a common cause, they entered the Great Hall different from how they'd entered it a day before. Each was suddenly changed, and more mature, and they hadn't done anything yet. It was the sense of preparation for something that was soon to come to pass...  
  
'Which is almost like foreboding,' thought Nora unsettlingly, as she helped herself to various breakfast foods that remained untouched on her plate.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
The Minister of Magic had a pensive look on her face as she surveyed her inner council, which just so happened to consist of her husband and brother-in-law as well as her secretary.  
  
"Professor McGonagall told you about the Black Slumber?" Hermione said faintly.  
  
"You know what it is? Minerva said you wouldn't."  
  
"I know what it is, but I'm probably one of the few people who does. I had to do a project on it in order to qualify for supervising St. Mungo's," said Hermione.  
  
"Oh. I had no idea," said Ron sheepishly. Harry looked dumbfounded also.  
  
"So...how are we supposed to restore the Drake boy to health?" Ron ventured.  
  
"I'll have to do some research into the still-pure bloodlines," Hermione murmured distractedly. "And...then eliminate those who aren't powerful enough. Or even a remote possibility."  
  
Ron knew she was thinking of the Malfoy line. His wife lapsed into a thoughtful silence.  
  
"Hermione," Harry grimaced, making her start, "I know it's a pain, but we need your official signature on this to launch Operation Deluxe."  
  
"Oh! Of course, Harry," she said, dipping her quill and signing her name with a flourish. Then she leaned back into a brooding silence. Harry and Ron took this as their cue to leave.  
  
"Lucretia," they heard Hermione's strained voice call to her secretary just before the door closed, "I'll need to assign the research into pure bloodlines to someone, would you do that for me?"  
  
"Of course, Mrs. Granger-Weasley," said Secretary Trantridge before she also joined Harry and Ron in the hallway.  
  
Hermione remained alone in her office, staring down at the report of what had happened at Hogwarts. The words DARIUS DRAKE, THIRTEEN - RAVENCLAW. INCAPACITATED jumped out at her. She continued to stare blankly at the parchment in wonder before she sat back against the high-backed scarlet chair and sobbed quietly into her hands.  
  
------------------------  
  
A/N God this fic SUCKS. Why have you kept reading it? I just reread chapter 1 and it is AWFUL. This is terrible. I hope more interesting things will happen in future chapters...i really do.  
  
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To the tune of Play That Funky Music White Boy:  
  
I am a huge HP fan...  
  
Reading all the books in a day  
  
But before OotP came out  
  
I read fanfic to hide my dismay  
  
and then eventually I  
  
decided to write some of my own  
  
so I would write it, and write it  
  
and wait for people's feedback  
  
and until I get it  
  
I might just never continue so  
  
Leave a review for me, white boy!  
  
Leave a review for me, right!  
  
Leave a review for me, white boy!  
  
Lay down the feedback even if you think that this fic should die!  
  
Sorry, Silver Phoenix...why am I apologizing to her? It's not like one of the best fanfic writers ever is going to come and read MY crap. Anyway...review please!  
  
Love,  
  
Renee! 


	9. First Meeting

The next two weeks passed by mostly without event; the children were busy concerning themselves with their schoolwork, and obviously could not discuss the sensitive subject near anyone that was not part of the Inter-House Alliance. Then, as the Gryffindors and Slytherins were filing out of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Kincaid Court laid a hand on Nora's shoulder and said, "We'll talk after Charms Club tonight. I've got some ideas. Nick says he's got some news, too."

Nora nodded almost imperceptibly, but Kincaid gave her shoulder a squeeze to signify that he had seen her assent. As he walked off, she noticed that he was taller than some fourth-years passing him. Then she thought, 'Wow, I knew that those kids were fourth-years! I must be getting really comfortable around here.'

"Oi, Weasley! Come here for a sec," said the voice of Jeffrey Kingsley. She turned to see him standing with Morag Alcott, Finny Roark and Nathan Darby.

"Sure, what is it?" she asked as she joined their ring.

"This weekend's a Hogsmeade weekend," he said. "And since first years aren't allowed into Hogsmeade and all, we thought we'd have a wizard chess tournament tomorrow. You know, a sort of alternative event."

"To make us feel better about missing out on Hogsmeade and all," said Nathan, grinning.

"Oh, I'm in!" she said, trying to keep the squeal out of her voice.

"Great. We'll start it after lunch. And if you see Vin, Sandrine or Alexandria, ask if they want to join too," said Jeffrey, nodding.

Morag pulled a face. "I doubt the girls will want to. It takes time away from their plotting and scheming to 'get' whatever boy they have a crush on this week."

"Is that really all they talk about?" asked Finny.

Nora and Morag exchanged glances, then laughed together. "Oh, you should hear our dormitory at night. 'Sandy, do you think that Kincaid will like these earrings?' 'I'm sure he will, Sandy, but what will Braden think of this headband?'"

"Wait," Nathan said slowly, "They both call each other Sandy?"

"Yes," Morag said grimly.

"You know, you'd think they'd be bright enough to realize that I'm actually _friends_ with Kincaid Court, and might have some advice for them," said Nora.

Morag shook her head. "You know girls like that. They look down on the kind of girls who make friends with boys. They think girls should just be friends with each other."

"For god's sake, we're all barely twelve," said Finny. "They should just calm down. Plenty of time for heartbreak later. Now's the time for wizard chess tournaments, eh?"

"Sounds about right to me," said Jeffrey easily.

"Alright, well. I want to get a head start on that Astronomy project before Charms Club, I'll catch you all later," said Nora, and, waving merrily, walked away in the direction of the library.

---------------------

"Harry, there's something I need to tell you."

From the way Ginny's voice was quivering, Harry immediately tightened, then turned away from his desk to regard her in the doorway. "What is it?" he said sharply.

Ginny attempted to calm her breathing. "A patient at St. Mungo's...he's an expert at ancient runes. So I..."

Harry closed his eyes. "Ginny, please don't tell me that you showed him the pictures of the tablets."

"I did," Ginny said defiantly. "And I'm glad I did, because you know what happened? He recognized the language, but found that it was in an odd order, with random parts of letters cut off. Which is why no one saw it as anything recognizable before."

"Come in, and go on." Now he was interested.

Ginny entered the room and drew in a deep breath. "Well, he slaved over it for a long time, and was able to decode the first tablet. And it doesn't say it in so many words, but apparently they're instructions on how to breed a certain, extremely rare kind of Lethifold."

"A Lethifold?" Harry said, the breath knocked out of him.

"Yes. But not the kind that sucks out souls, apparently. They bred it with some sort of extinct creature - a Mundring - whose whiskers used to be used in wands. And the Black Slumber charm can only be cast with a wand that has Mundring whiskers at its core."

"I didn't know that," said Harry in amazement.

"It was on the tablet," said Ginny. "Basically...the Lethifold/Mundring hybrid is able to sneak around just like a Lethifold, but with a wizard's instruction, can inflict Black Slumber on its own."

"You're kidding. I have to tell Ron - "

"Wait! There's more."

"MORE?" Harry shouted. "As if this isn't bad enough?"

Ginny's words were tinged with terror. "The creatures are invisible."

"They're - Merlin's beard, this is - I - is there any way to track them?"

"Not that I know of," Ginny said pleadingly, "But I'm sure we can devise a way - "

"You're right," Harry broke in. "I'll fire-call Ron and Hermione...I'm sure Hermione can put together a team of researchers into these things, find a way to detect them." He stopped himself, and looked at his wife, who looked torn. "Ginny...I'm glad you took matters into your own hands. Is your patient still working on the rest of the tablets?"

Ginny smiled weakly. "He is."

"Is there any way I can visit him?"

"Just owl him. You know him."

"I KNOW him?" But there was only one Ancient Runes expert that Harry was acquainted with. "Do you mean to tell me that we're talking about Seamus Finnigan?"

She closed her eyes. "Yes."

Harry stared at her. "..._Seamus_? Why is he in St. Mungo's?"

"He was opening some tomb or other in Mongolia, and a firecrab burned him," Ginny said indifferently. "Nothing major, except the firecrab had additional powers to make the burns Everlasting. So it'll be a few weeks before we can get them out."

"You can get out Everlasting burns?" Harry said dazedly.

"Yes, it's very easy - oh, listen to us! This is so trivial. I didn't tell Seamus any more than he needed to know, Harry, but I did tell him that the targets this time are half-bloods, and, well. He's a half-blood, so...he obviously has a personal interest in this. You know, sometimes I think that it's silly to keep things to yourself when it can be done so much better with help from outside parties."

"Fair enough, Gin," Harry said wearily, as he rose and strode over to the fire. "But now I'm afraid I'll have to break the new development to your brother and sister."

Ginny was silent for a moment as she watched him bend down to the fireplace - then, as he stuck his head in, she stood and padded out of the room.

------------------------

"Alright, children!" Professor Flitwick squeaked excitedly. "Tonight we're going to go on a field trip!"

"Really?" said one of the older members of the Charms Club with interest. Nora recognized her as her cousin Marie, a seventh year, whose parents were Bill and Fleur. "Where to?"

"The library," said Flitwick, to which the Charms Club collectively rolled its eyes. "We're going to do a fun little exercise. Everyone has to look up one fun fact about the different wand cores and their effect on Charms. You may think it sounds boring, but I think you may be surprised at some of the things you will find!"

"Fair enough," said Ian Warner, the Gryffindor prefect, and immediately started to head for the door.

Pallas Austin caught up with Nora. "This is great," she said in a low voice. "We can all sit at one table in the back and talk."

"Mmhmm," Nora nodded fervently.

"And I bet that if we just find one fact," came Kincaid's soft voice in her ear, "and then claim we all found the same one by accident...we can just spend the whole meeting discussing things."

"I like the way you think, Court," smirked Vin Malfoy, whom Nora had not noticed behind her.

"Hey, you lot! Wait up!" Nick jogged up behind them. "You were about to make me walk alone," he accused.

"What of it?" Pallas said airily, but at Nick's crestfallen expression, she giggled. "I'm kidding, Nick!"

"Right, I knew that," said Nick, but he quickly said, "So, how about those Domgobbets in Herbology, eh?"

They chattered about their classes all the way to the library, which struck Nora as funny - clearly they were just talking about the mundane everyday things until they could get in private and start in on the important stuff.

When they got to the library, Professor Flitwick merely told them that they would reconvene in a half hour to share what they had found. Nora, Pallas, Vin, Nick and Kincaid immediately set off to find a remote table away from the rest of the students, and finally found one in a dark corner.

"I'll go get a relevant book," Pallas volunteered.

"Relevant to what," Vin said slowly. "Are we going to do the assignment...or look up things about Black Slumber?"

"Ooh, good idea, I'll get one for each topic," said Pallas, and ran off to find Madam Pince.

"Alright. We can fill her in when she gets back," said Nick. "Has anyone heard anything of importance? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"I heard Alexandria Townsend telling Sandrine Trilson that she was having nightmares, but I don't think that really qualifies," Vin offered.

Nora shook her head, smiling slightly. "I later heard what the nightmares were about. And somehow I doubt that being caught naked by Braden Reilly is something that the caster of a Black Slumber would care to make Alexandria dream about."

"How did two girls like that end up in Gryffindor?" Nick wondered aloud.

"Where else would you suggest they end up?" asked Kincaid. "So they're shallow. They'll grow out of it."

"Cheers, Kinny," said Nora.

Kincaid cocked his head to one side, seeming to consider something. "Kinny. I like the sound of that."

"Good," said Nora. "But anything else?"

"Not as of yet," Vin said bracingly, just as Pallas returned with two books.

"What'd I miss?" she asked eagerly.

"Alexandria Townsend dreams about Braden Reilly in the nude, or something equally stupid," said Kincaid unconcernedly.

Pallas doubled over with laughter. "Well, I'm glad I'm all filled in now."

"Have you heard anything important, Pallas?" asked Vin.

"Well, Darius Drake was in my house and all...and no one's been told why he's in the hospital wing. But apparently his roommates woke up one morning, and Darius usually got up earlier than the rest of them, so they knew something was up. Then he couldn't be roused from his bed...and one of them, Lucas Smythe, he tried peeling back one of his eyelids, and Darius' eyes were completely rolled back into his head," she finished in a frightened whisper.

"But no one knows that it's Black Slumber, right?" said Vin, looking for confirmation.

Pallas shook her head. "I haven't heard those words from anyone. But there are tons of other theories."

"Let people talk," said Nora. "As long as it's just talk."

"Wise words," said Kincaid. "If that's all, I had an idea."

"What?" the other four asked.

"Well, as much as I like what we're doing, I still think there aren't enough of us. In order for our plan to work, we need more than five sets of eyes and ears. I think we should start recruiting new members. Just one by one, people we can trust."

"I think that's a good idea, in all honesty," said Nora.

"Good thinking, Kincaid," said Pallas, tugging thoughtfully on her long, dirty blonde hair.

"We should make it a regular thing," said Vin excitedly. "Every two weeks, we let someone new in."

"How do we decide who to let in?"

"They'll have to prove themselves somehow...demonstrate a true commitment to Inter-House bonding," Nora said pensively.

"And they can't show any signs of prejudice and all that," Nick added.

"That's a given," said Pallas, nodding.

"All right. So two weeks from now, we'll meet again and all vote on who to let in. In the meantime, I think we should all kind of...pledge ourselves to our cause," said Vin.

"How do you mean?" asked Nick.

"We have to be able to trust each other," Vin said fervently. "We should all, I guess, pledge to make sure we won't betray each other."

"Unless it's in a case of emergency," Pallas put in.

"I like that idea," said Kincaid.

"I know how to make it work," Nora spoke up. They turned to look at her. "Well, back when my parents and my uncle formed their group against Cornelius Fudge, they sort of made all the members sign a piece of parchment, which meant they'd never tell anyone outside their group about what they were doing...and my mum put an enchantment on it that would make anyone who tattled sprout terrible pustules all over their face that spelled out 'Sneak!'"

"No. Really? The Minister of Magic did that? That's a great story, Nora," Nick whooped.

"Do you know the charm?" Kincaid broke in, looking at Nora intently.

"As a matter of fact, yes I do," she said, pleased with herself for having paid attention to her parents' stories. "Anyone have a spare piece of parchment?"

They looked around. "No...I don't think any of us thought to bring parchment to Charms Club," said Pallas.

"Fair enough," Nora shrugged. "Next time."

"Oi, Barry," Kincaid said suddenly. "Did you say you had news?"

"Oh, I completely forgot. Thanks, Kin," said Nick. "I thought I'd heard of the Preservatists somewhere before, so I went and looked at this book I read a while ago, where they're mentioned. It was just this stupid wizarding novel, but they were in there. And it said that they weren't against half-bloods whose parents were both wizards."

"What does that mean?" asked Vin, confused.

"Well, think about Nora here," said Nick, gesturing to the red-haired girl. "Her dad's a wizard, and her mum's a wizard, but she's a half-blood. Why?"

"Because my mum's Muggle-born," Nora said defiantly.

"Calm down," said Nick. "I wasn't attacking you. I'm saying that you're half-blood, but your parents are still both wizards. Now think of the girl in your House, Morag Alcott. She's a half blood too, but one of her parents is an out-and-out Muggle, no magic in her mum at all. The Preservatists are targeting half-bloods like her."

"So basically, Nora's safe, but Morag's in danger?" Pallas knit her eyebrows together.

"That's what it sounds like," said Vin.

"What we should do is start putting together a list of people who are potential targets, like Darius and Morag," said Kincaid.

"That's a great plan," said Nora appreciatively.

"Come on, you don't think we'll look suspicious, ferreting around into people's family trees?" said Nick.

"I'm not saying we should randomly start asking people who their parents are," said Kincaid, annoyed. "We can just keep our ears out whenever someone starts talking about their parents. Most kids aren't secretive about their family situations. You knew Morag was a half-blood, why? Because she

says so."

"Okay, fair enough," said Nick.

"Plus, we know who a lot of kids' parents are, just through the wizarding community," said Pallas. "Like, I may not know who Terrence Bryant's mum is, but I know his father's a pure-blood who works in the Department of Magical Transportation."

"Are you saying we have to figure out the bloodline of every single student at Hogwarts?" Nora said painedly.

"No. But we can just put together a list of unknowns. I mean, we can rule out pretty much all the Slytherins, they're all pureblood, right?"

Kincaid nodded. "The only half-blood to ever get into Slytherin was You-Know-Who. But I think there's some magical way to figure out what your bloodline's like, I heard some sixth years talking about it before…well, in any case, none of them will be half-blooded anyway."

"See? That just leaves three houses," Pallas said cheerily.

"And close to half of Gryffindor are pureblood Weasley cousins of Nora's," said a grinning Vin.

Nora swatted at him. "Come off it, there aren't THAT many of us."

"Oh, there are a fair few," said Vin, raising his eyebrows.

"Enough," Pallas interruped. "We have to find facts about the wand cores. I don't think we even have enough time to read the book that talks about Black Slumber, we can do that another time."

"Cheers, Pallas," said Nick, and pulled the book to himself, flipping through it until he found a section entitled "Wand Cores in Charms." "Alright, Nora, you write this down - 'Wands with veela hair at their cores have been known to produce faulty charms that often take on a mind of their own.'...Pallas, take this one - 'Wands with cores placed too close to either point of the wand have been known to result in weaker charms'...Court, here's one for you - 'Wands that have Mundring whiskers at their core make for completely ineffectual charms in all areas except Dark magic.' Oi, what's a Mundring?" Nick looked up.

"No clue," Nora shrugged.

"They're an extinct magical creature," Pallas supplied. "But that's all I know about them, I saw them on a list of extinct animals at the Department for Control of Magical Creatures a while back, my mum works there."

"I think we're supposed to meet with the rest of the club about now," said Vin. "I'll just take the one about the Mundrings, Barry can use the one about veela."

"Sure thing," said Nick, shutting the book with a clap and standing up to stretch. "Well, you lot, I like this. Til next time, then."

"Til next time," said Nora softly, earning herself an intent look from Kincaid, who immediately looked away and followed Nick away from the secluded corner.

--------------------------

A/N

Okay, but still. IT WILL GET EVEN BETTER, I PROMISE. YOU'VE NO IDEA WHAT I HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU.

It's 1:45, I don't feel like writing a review song. Besides I think I earned a rest, picking up a story after two years of no activity! And all thanks to a wonderful reviewer named Sciens Mulier. Hope you like it :-D


	10. Breakfast at Gryffindor's

Chapter 10 – Breakfast at Gryffindor's

Nora felt more tired than usual when she woke up the next morning – she hadn't been up later than usual, but that night, in bed, she had lain in her bed, staring at the ceiling. With furrowed eyebrows, she tried putting together a sort of genealogy for anyone she could think of, until sleep finally took her.

She looked around the room – Morag was gone, and Alexandria and Sandrine were still asleep. Open on Sandrine's slowly rising-and-falling chest was a magazine. Curiously, Nora rose and crept over to Sandrine's four-poster to read the article. When she saw the swirling letters that read, "65 Ways to Work a School Uniform to Snag the Lads", she shook her head and turned away with disgust. _Why are they in Gryffindor? _she found herself wondering as she put on her clothes.

"Well if it isn't my favorite cousin," said a voice as she came down the stairs. The voice belonged to Julian Weasley, a sixth-year that was her Uncle Fred and Aunt Angelina's son, and he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding a highly polished broomstick. He was one of the few Weasley children that did not have red hair – his black hair and tanned skin were from his mother, Angelina.

"I highly doubt that you can say I'm your favorite cousin just like that. You have," Nora screwed up her face as she did the calculation, "Eighteen cousins. Out of eighteen, you can easily say I'm your favorite?"

"Of course," said Julian, not even batting an eye. "Now tell me, was Andie behind you at all?"

"Yes, she was," said Andie as she thundered out of the staircase behind Nora. "Sneaks!" she said as she saw Nora, "I always forget that you're at Hogwarts!" She stopped to give Nora a big hug, her elbow-length black hair wrapping around Nora. "What's my fair brother doing to you?" Andie said as she pulled away.

"Trying to convince me that I'm his favorite cousin," Nora told the girl.

Andie rolled her eyes. "He tells _all _our cousins that they're his favorites," said Andie, looking at her twin brother accusingly.

"Well, _Andrea_, you're definitely my favorite twin sister," said Julian.

"Call me Andrea again, Julian. Just try it," Andie challenged him, narrowing her eyes.

Julian wisely chose not to repeat Andie's full name. "So, Sneaks, where are you off to?" he asked Nora instead.

"Breakfast," said Nora.

"You know, breakfast," Andie cut in. "Like what normal people do in the morning after they wake up."

"Shut it, Andie," said Julian. "I meant, what are you going to do today, seeing as you can't go to Hogsmeade?"

"Oh, I nearly forgot, we're going to have a wizard chess tournament right here in the common room," said Nora happily.

"You kids are so creative," said Julian. "Whose idea was it?"

"Not sure, but it was Jeffrey Kingsley that invited me."

"What is this, a family reunion?" said Dane Potter as he strode up to them.

"Excuse me, _Potter_, but you're not exactly part of the Weasley family," said Andie, giggling.

"Oh, okay. In that case, I'll tell my mum not to bring her famous casserole at Christmas," said Dane, raising his eyebrows.

"NO! Okay, Dane, you're a Weasley, definitely a Weasley," said Andie.

"Not just any Weasley, but my favorite cousin," Julian spoke up.

Nora and Andie groaned. "Don't fall for it, Dane, don't fall for it," Andie advised.

"Where are you off to?" Julian asked. "After breakfast, I mean."

"First and second years are having a wizard chess tournament," said Dane, and then he turned to Nora. "You're going down, cous."

"I don't know about that, Potter," said Julian warningly. "My dad says that Uncle Ron could beat anyone at chess."

"Yeah, Dane, haven't you ever heard the story of how your own dad and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione got the Sorcerer's Stone?" asked Andie. "If my memory serves me, it was _Nora's_ dad that won the giant wizard chess game."

"So don't get cocky," said Julian, before he turned to Andie. "And now, my dear twin sister, we ought to be going."

"Bye Sneaks, bye, Dane," said Andie, waving as the two of them walked towards the portrait hole.

"So who are you waiting for?" Nora asked Dane.

"Mira," said Dane, his cheeks flushing slightly.

"Ah, I see," said Nora knowingly. "In that case, I'll leave you to it. See you at the tournament."

"Thanks," Dane said gratefully. "Oh, and if you see Dominic Finnigan, remember to tell him you hope his dad feels better."

Nora frowned. "What's wrong with Dominic's dad?"

"He's in St. Mungo's. Nothing serious, really, but I think he'd appreciate your support."

"Gotcha. Thanks, Dane," Nora nodded, and exited the Gryffindor Common Room. As she walked alone through the winding hallways, she realized it was the first time she had gone this route alone.

When she reached the Great Hall, she saw a group of kids, most of whom had shocking red hair, all gathered around in a crowd. Immediately, one of the heads poked out of the congregation, and it was yet _another_ of Nora's cousins, a seventh year called Marianne.

"Sneaks!" she called affectionately. "Buckley got a letter from Uncle Fred, and in it were a ton of sparkler quills for all of us. Come get yours."

Nora hurried over to where the rest of her cousins at Hogwarts were standing, waiting for their gifts.

"Hiya, Sneaks," said Buckley Weasley, the fourteen-year old brother of Julian and Andie, whose company she had just left. "Seen Dane anywhere?"

"He's still in the common room," she said.

"Well this is his," he said, and set down the small wrapped package on the table, and pulled the next one out of the parcel. "Jack Weasley, this one's for you!" he called.

Jack, the thirteen year-old son of Charlie and his wife Clara, appeared at Buckley's side. "Thanks, Buck. Hey there, Sneaks," he added to Nora as he left the crowd.

"Geoffrey Weasley!" Buckley thundered. Geoffrey, the youngest son of Bill and Fleur, was in Julian and Andie's year, and turned around at the sound of his name.

"Thanks a lot, Buck, I'll be sure to send your parents my thanks," he nodded.

"How many are left?" asked Nora, as she was beginning to get hungry.

"Jack's done, Geof's done, Dane's is here, Rob's got his, and Julian, Andie and I've had ours since school started…that leaves…"

"Me, Lizzie, Nora, and Louis and Belinda," said Marianne impatiently. The last two names she mentioned were that of her younger brother and sister, who were fourteen and twelve, respectively.

"Right. So this one's for ELIZABETH WEASLEY!"

"Ooh, great, Buck!" said Lizzie excitedly from Marianne's side. "I've been waiting for these since my dad and Uncle Fred first got the idea for them – "

"That's nice. Here, Sneaks, this one's for you," said Buckley as he thrust the parcel in the direction of the youngest Weasley at Hogwarts.

"Love ya, Buck," said Nora, kissing him on the cheek, and then fought her way through the remaining cousins to get to where she imagined her fellow Gryffindor first years were sitting.

As she approached, Morag, Jeffrey, Vin and Nathan grinned. "You know, it must be nice to be a Weasley," said Jeffrey.

"Why's that?" Nora asked as she sat down.

"You've got family anywhere you go," he said simply. "Me, I've just got my dad, my mum, my little sister and my mum's sister, who lives alone in Leiceseter."

"What does she do there?" asked Morag.

"Oh, she's not magical, neither's my mum. They're both teachers."

Nora and Vin exchanged glances. They knew his father was a wizard. _So Jeffrey's a target_, she said, sickened.

"My mum's a teacher, too," Nathan piped up, "But she teaches at a Wizard Primary."

"Can you imagine the difference between what my mum teaches and what your mum teaches?" Jeffrey snorted.

"What does your dad do, Nathan?" asked Nora, hoping she sounded natural.

Nathan drew himself up proudly. "He's the chief publicist for the Kenmare Kestrels," he said.

"Wow!" said Nora, secretly relieved that Nathan's name did not have to be added to her mental list.

"Morning, all," said Finny as he took a vacant seat next to Morag.

"Morning," they chorused.

"What was going on back there?" asked Finny, jerking his thumb in the direction of Nora's cousins. "What was Buckley Weasley holding above Belinda Weasley's head?"

"Sparkler quills, my Uncle Fred sent us each one as a present," said Nora.

"Ooh, let's see it, then!" said Morag.

Nora unwrapped the package, and picked up a fine white quill, which seemed completely normal.

"It's not sparkling," Nathan observed.

"I think you have to write in order for it to sparkle," said Nora.

"Oh," said Nathan, and even behind his brown skin she could detect a trace of color.

"Hey, Nora, isn't that your owl?" said Finny, pointing behind her.

Nora turned around and, indeed, Pigwidgeon was barreling toward her. "Really, he's my dad's owl," said Nora as Pigwidgeon landed in front of her. "Hello, Piggy," she said fondly, and fed him a hash brown before she removed the scroll from his leg.

Dear Nora,

I'm so glad to hear that you're doing well in your studies. Everything is fine at home, for the most part. Troy thought it would be a good idea to use his fake broomstick to fly down the stairs, and as a result banged up his knee quite badly. Daddy's gone on a trip to South America for a week or so, but he fire calls me at night to say he's doing wonderfully.

I think it's tremendous, that you're getting along so well with your teachers, but you haven't mentioned any new friends. Is there something the matter? Because remember, darling, sometimes it's not easy to make friends right away. I kept mostly to myself the first few months of school, until I befriended your father and Uncle Harry. Those friendships didn't start right away, but as you can see, they certainly lasted.

Say hi to Dane, Belinda, Elizabeth, Jack, Geoffrey, Robert, Buckley, Marianne, Julian and Andie for me. I do hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

Love,

Mum

Nora chuckled. "My mum thinks I haven't made any friends," she announced.

"You know, for the Minister of Magic, she doesn't seem all that bright," said Jeffrey.

"Jeffrey!" Morag scolded him.

"No, it's fine," Nora giggled.

"Here, let me see that letter," said Jeffrey, holding out his hand for it.

Nora hesitated.

"I'm not going to read it, I just want the back," he assured her.

Nora handed it over. _It's not as if there's anything important in there_, she pacified herself.

Jeffrey fished a quill out of one pocket, and immediately wrote something on the back. "Here, Nate, now you."

Nathan took it, saw what Jeffrey had written, and a smile crept over his mouth. "Sure, give that quill over here," he instructed. When Jeffrey gave him the quill, he added something to the back of Hermione's letter. "Vin, now you," he said.

Vin then wrote something, and then Finny, then Morag. When Morag finished, she gave the letter back to Nora. "That may change her mind," Morag giggled.

Nora looked at the letter, and immediately felt tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.

Dear Mrs. Granger-Weasley, you'll be pleased to know that your daughter is an excellent friend of mine. Sincerely, Jeffrey Kingsley.

And mine. I'm very glad to know her! –Nathan Darby

She's my friend, as well. Sincerely, Vincent Malfoy

Yes, we all like her very much. Phineas Roark.

I wouldn't want anyone else to be my roommate, Mrs. Granger-Weasley! Love, Morag Alcott. P.S. I think you're doing a wonderful job running the country and all.

"Guys, this…" Nora choked.

"Go on, roll it back up and give it to your owl," Nathan nodded encouragingly.

"But first add that you're friends with people who aren't Gryffindors," Morag suggested.

Rather than speak, for fear of crying, Nora merely took the quill and added,

Well, Mum, those are my Gryffindor first year friends. I've also made friends with a Ravenclaw girl named Pallas Austin, three Slytherins called Kincaid Court, Agnes Emerson and Rob Van Gellis, and a Hufflepuff boy named Nicholas Barry. In case you need to run background checks on them or anything, you know. Love, Nora. P.S. You forgot Louis!

Then, before she lost her composure, she tied the parchment back onto Pigwidgeon's leg and said, "Take this back to Mum, Piggy."

Pigwidgeon gave one tiny hoot of assent and then flew off the table.

"Now, well, it's about time we go back to our rooms and study up on our chess techniques, right?" said Morag, rising.

"Please. I don't need to study," Jeffrey grinned.

"You'll live to regret it, I think," Nora said, her eyes twinkling.

A/N

Okay, next chapter's coming soon. Yes, I realize, that was more of a CHECK OUT THE WEASLEY FAMILY TREE! Kind of chapter, but the next one will be better, I promise. Besides, the Department of Backstory is a fixture in any story.

To the tune of "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns and Roses:

I write fanfic and it seems to me

That I won't get better unless I see

Some feedback to tell me what I'm doing wrong and right

So take a moment to leave a review

And maybe then I will know what to do

To make this fic seem even more outta sight!

Oh, review, sweet child of mine!

Ohhhhh review, sweet child of mine!

Lol. But don't worry. The story gets better I SWEAR!


	11. The Tournament and the Tower

Chapter 11 – The Tournament and the Tower

After what seemed like an eternity, Nora was setting up her chess set for the third time, preparing for the semi-final against Hunter Morgan, a bespectacled boy in Dane's year.

"Right, then," said Jeffrey, who had good-naturedly just lost to Hunter in round two and was now holding up the tournament chart. "Finny and Vin at table one, Gregory and Morag at two, Marissa and Laura at three, Paul and Alexandria at four. You're competing for ninth through sixteenth place among the first people eliminated. Me and Nate at five, Jeannie and Sandrine at six, we'll be fifth through eighth. And the four semifinalists are Nora, Hunter, Dane and Mira. Tables seven and eight."

"Cheers, Jeff," said Julian as he, Andie, Geoffrey and two other sixth years came through the portrait hole.

"Back so soon?" asked Laura Messinger, who was already seated across from her opponent, Marissa.

"Wanted to see how you lot were faring," said Geoffrey. "Sneaks, you out yet?"

"No, Geof, semifinals," said Nora, pleased with herself.

"How about you, Dane?" asked Andie.

"Same," said Dane.

"Well, that just proves that they're Weasleys," said Julian.

"Stop it, you'll jinx us," said Nora, annoyed.

They began their games – Nora was discouraged to see that Hunter Morgan was much better than her previous two opponents, Finny and Nathan. Three times she realized that she was in danger of a check, and it took her sometimes five minutes of deep concentration to figure out the right evasive maneuver. Hunter was an excellent player.

"You're very good, you know," she said softly to him as she hit the clock.

"And you," he said, not taking his eyes off the chessboard.

"Hey, what's with the owl?" asked Paul, one of the second years that Nora was not familiar with.

"What owl?" said Sandrine.

"At the window," said Paul, nodding towards the window of Gryffindor tower.

Gregory Chatham stood up to let the owl in – to Nora's surprise, it flew straight to her.

"I wonder what this is about," she said, puzzled, and then opened it.

_Red,_

_Grab Vin and meet us on the Astronomy tower, quick as you can._

Kincaid 

Nora swallowed, and then looked up, realizing that the whole of Gryffindor's first two years were watching her expectantly. "Oh, no big deal," she said.

"Your move," Hunter said politely, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"So it is," Nora agreed. She studied the chessboard. _What can it be_?

Finally, without giving much thought to it, she moved a knight two spaces to the left and one down.

Hunter looked at her strangely. "You sure you want to do that, Weasley?"

"Sure," Nora said vaguely as she let go of the horse.

"All right…checkmate, then."

Nora looked down at the board. "So it is," she said again, watching one of Hunter's castles storm over to her king.

"We're done," Hunter called.

"We're not," Mira snapped from where she and Dane were sitting. Nora watched as the dark-haired girl bent over the chessboard in frustration, and saw that Dane's expression was one of sadness.

_Oh no_, she thought to herself, _he's not going to let her win, is he_?

Then she remembered Kincaid's note. "Say, Vin, would you mind helping me with…that Potions assignment?"

Vin frowned at her; they had both finished the Potions assignment the previous day. Then it dawned on him. "Sure, let's go to the library."

"Oi, you can't do that," Jeffrey protested. "Nora still has to play whoever loses Dane and Mira's game."

Nora shrugged. "I'll just forfeit. Fourth place isn't bad." She and Vin hurried out of the portrait hole.

"What's going on?" Vin said in a low voice.

"Here," she said brusquely, and handed him Kincaid's note.

"I don't know if I like the sound of this," Vin said grimly as they quickened their pace.

When they got to the Astronomy tower, they found Kincaid waiting with Pallas and Nick. "What took so long?" asked Nick.

"We were in the middle of a chess tournament, sorry," said Nora. "Why the Astronomy tower?"

"Because I knew no one would be here," said Kincaid. He turned to Pallas. "Pallas, tell them."

Pallas' usually composed face was ashen. "You know those creatures we talked about yesterday, the Mundrings? Whose whiskers used to be used in wands, but now they're extinct?"

"Yes," said Nora slowly, remembering vaguely that something along those lines had been mentioned yesterday.

"Well, I was bored and I wanted to know what they were, out of personal interest, so I had my mum send me a book from the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures. I don't think anyone had read it in centuries, but when I looked up the Mundrings, I found out that wands with their whiskers, like Nick said yesterday, can only cast Dark magic spells. But there are also a bunch of things that Mundring wands can do that no other wand can – and one of the functions unique to a Mundring wand is to cast Black Slumber."

"No!" said Vin, amazed.

"But who would have a Mundring-whisker wand, if Mundrings are extinct?" Nora said quickly.

"We don't know," said Kincaid, his quiet voice able to convey as much meaning as if he had yelled. "But we should find out."

"But don't you see?" said Nick. "Mundring wands can't be that common. If we can find who has them, it'll narrow down who the possible casters can be."

"It's not like someone can just register a Mundring wand," said Pallas, shaking her head. "If you have a Mundring wand, you're obviously going to be a Dark wizard. Why else would you need one?"

"Still, it's something to go on, Pallas," said Nora soothingly. "Maybe I should tell my…"

She stopped herself.

"Tell your what, Nora?" asked Vin.

"Tell your…_parents_?" Nick guessed.

"But if you do that, they'll know you were listening!" said Pallas.

"I know…that's why I stopped myself," said Nora. "Maybe I could just bring it up casually, as if it's something really interesting I learned…?"

"Maybe…but hold off on that for a while," said Kincaid cautiously. "I don't think it's the kind of thing you would have picked up at regular Hogwarts lessons. Maybe if you first talk about Charms Club, and that you were supposed to find out an interesting fact about wand cores?"

"That's perfect, Kinny," said Nora, relieved that there was a way to clue in her parents without giving away that she had eavesdropped.

Kincaid smiled lightly. "All right, then. I think that's it for now. Unless wait, have we found out anyone's bloodlines?"

"Yes," Nora sighed.

"Jeffrey Kingsley's a target," Vin continued. "In addition to Morag."

"As is Shelby Cherice, in my House," said Nick.

"Over in Ravenclaw, in our year, there's Matt Yardmark and Braden Reilly," said Pallas, sounding tired.

"We should write these down," said Nora.

"I brought parchment this time," said Kincaid. "And while we're writing them down, Nora, you can do that thing your mum did."

"Sure thing," said Nora, reaching out and accepting Kincaid's parchment. She screwed up her face in effort and tapped the parchment three times, then said the incantation she had heard numerous times in her mother's retelling of the story of Dumbledore's Army. For a moment, the parchment turned a bright red, and then the color faded back to normal. Then she wrote her name, _Nora Weasley_, with a flourish.

"There, I'm first," she said, and gave the quill and parchment to Vin, who was standing idly as the other three wrote down the list of targets.

"You know," said Pallas, "while the weather's okay, we can continue meeting here. No one uses this tower until midnight, do they?"

"That sounds good. But it'll start snowing soon, and then what?" asked Nick.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," said Vin.

"But in the meantime, we can still keep a lookout for possible places," said Nora practically.

"Fair enough."

"Sounds good."

"Then I'll go write that letter to my parents…hopefully they'll find the information useful," said Nora. She bade the four of them goodbye, and hurried out of the Astronomy Tower.

A/N – yes, it's short. But at least I'm writing it, right?

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	12. Those That Do Not Learn

A/N – SO. I hope you're enjoying this so far, but seriously, you ain't seen nothing yet. I realize that at the moment I am writing for one person, that I know of. But that's all it took, and I remembered all the things I had planned for this fic, and revived it. Hopefully it'll pick up more readers as we go along…spread the word, because RENEE IS BACK! (and hopefully I'll get around to finishing Hidden Scars, too, because seriously, what I have planned for that fic kind of amazes/scares ME sometimes, in that I was able to come up with it, lol.) OH WELL. ENJOY.

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Chapter 12 – Those That Do Not Learn From Their Mistakes…

"Hermione? Troy? I'm home!" boomed Ron Weasley's deep voice from the foyer of their house.

Troy flew into the foyer and threw his arms around his father's waist. "Daddy!" he exclaimed.

Hermione Granger-Weasley's padded into the foyer, her bushy brown hair tied in a knot at the nape of her neck. She, too, put her arms around Ron, and kissed his neck. "Yes, Daddy, we missed you."

"And you," he said, kissing her forehead. "Where's Nor –" he stopped himself.

"I know, I always forget that she's not here anymore," said Hermione. "But I do have a wonderful letter from her for you." She pulled the folded parchment out of her pocket and handed it to Ron, smiling gently.

As he read the signatures on the back, Ron thought his heart was going to explode from pride. "Were we like that when we were eleven?" he asked his wife.

"You? At eleven?" Hermione snorted. "Don't get me started on that."

"You weren't too great yourself," Ron said accusingly, and went back to the letter. "Kingsley, sounds familiar…and _no, not because it's Kingsley Shacklebolt's first name_," said Ron before Hermione could get a word in. "And Darby, that's the surname of the Kenmare Kestrel's publicist."

"I'm sure there are more Darbys out there, Ron," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"And what's this one…Malloy?" Ron squinted at the paper. "No, it's…"

The parchment fell to the floor.

"_Malfoy_?" he yelled.

Hermione picked up the fallen letter. "No, maybe it does say Malloy, that's a relatively common name," she said.

"No, Hermione," said Ron, his voice shaking, "There is clearly a line through the second 'l' in that name. That makes it an 'f'. And the presence of an 'f' clearly makes the person called Vincent's surname _Malfoy_!"

"Mommy," said Troy from some three feet below them, "What's a Malfoy?"

"Nothing, Troy," said Ron.

"You know, now that I think of it, it's not that common a name," said Hermione, biting her lip. She knew that her daughter had sound judgment, but she was still eleven years old…_could there be another Malfoy out there? Could he be trying to befriend Nora so that his family could cause her harm?_

"I said it, I _said_ we shouldn't have let her out of the house," said Ron darkly. "But did you listen to me? No, of course not. Never listen to Ron –"

"Ron, enough. Fire-call Minerva and ask her what the situation is."

"I'll do more than that. I'll ask to speak to my baby girl and make sure she never associates with a Malfoy. This isn't an I-hate-Malfoys thing, Hermione, this is a making-sure-my-daughter-is-safe thing. I'm not taking any chances, not with my Norling."

"You can't _forbid _her from associating with someone, that's completely irrational," said Hermione, clicking her tongue.

"Oh yes I can," said Ron, storming past his son and wife and into the study.

"Why is Daddy mad?" asked Troy, tugging on his mother's robes.

Hermione sighed. "Because he loves your sister very much."

Troy frowned. Somehow that equation didn't make sense in his six-year old mind.

-------------------------------------

Nora stalked into the Gryffindor Common Room, her face as red as her hair, fists clenched at her sides. She walked straight up to Vin, and drew in a deep breath.

"Vin, I'd like you to know that my dad's just told me I'm not allowed to talk to you, on account of your last name, and that I'm going to talk to you anyway," she said, and, before she could register the look of utter confusion on the faces of him and everyone around him, turned and marched up the stairs to her dormitory, then threw herself onto her bed. Immediately the pillow was wet with her tears. Alexandria and Sandrine, who were in the room, exchanged glances, which Nora, her face buried in her sopping wet pillow, still could feel somehow.

But the next moment, Morag was there. She hurried to Nora's bedside. "Nora, what happened?" she said, her voice full of concern.

Nora sat up. "Oh, nothing, you know, just a regular day. What with my dad fire calling the Headmistress to ask why she's allowed me to make friends with a boy, and then telling me that I'm not allowed to talk to him. You'd think that Vin was walking around school wearing a black hood and saying 'Oi, check out this Dark Mark, isn't it neat!'"

"Oh, Nora, really?" said Morag painedly. "Why?"

"Because he's not thinking!" said Nora angrily. "He thinks that just because Vin is a Malfoy, he's automatically on some instructions from a Dark wizard to get close to me, so that he can, I don't know, kidnap me and deliver me to the Dark wizard to use as ransom against my mum and dad. He's an Auror, so when he gets paranoid, things stop making sense. You'd think," she said bitterly, "That after the Second Voldemort War, he'd have realized that blood doesn't matter. What was that I kept hearing about Harry's godfather, Sirius Black? How his entire family were pureblood elitists, but he fought against Voldemort to the death? And yet it's impossible for there to be a normal, non-evil Malfoy, right?"

"Shh, Nora, it's okay," said Morag. "Your father just wants you to be safe, and that's making him close-minded. You know some of the atrocities that the Malfoy family committed during the Second Voldemort War, well, he just doesn't want that done to you. I know that blood doesn't have to mean anything, that a Muggle-born can be more powerful than a pureblood, that the child of two Slytherins can be a Hufflepuff, that – that you can choose who you want to be, and sometimes you choose to be just like your parents and sometimes you choose to be the opposite. Draco Malfoy _did _choose to be just like his parents, though, so maybe your father was just a tiny bit right to be worried, but he should have listened to your side before forbidding you from talking to a friend he's never met." Morag drew in a deep breath. "Sorry…" she said sheepishly. "I get really worked up over things like this. Ever since my older brother sent home an angry letter saying that kids were making fun of him because my dad's a Muggle. Those kids don't know my dad, they have no right at all to say _anything _about him, and I bet that he has more good in his little finger than those stupid kids' parents did in their entire bodies," she finished passionately.

Nora had stopped crying. "You're right, Morag," she whispered with a smile. "Thanks."

"Well. What are friends for, right?" said Morag.

At the other end of the room, she was aware of Alexandria and Sandrine whispering heatedly to each other, but didn't have the energy to tell them off. Morag followed her gaze to the two girls, and then rolled her eyes and grinned at Nora.

_Well, I know who _I'm _voting for to be allowed next into the Inter-House Alliance,_ Nora thought to herself with satisfaction.

---------------------------------

"Good morning, Seamus, how are you feeling?" said Harry.

"Harry, mate! I'm great, thanks. Especially now I've got this to keep me distracted from the pain," said Seamus, holding up one bandaged hand that held the photograph of the five tablets.

"I just came by to thank you, really," Harry confessed. "You've no idea how much of a help this is."

"Harry," Seamus said easily. "Even if I weren't stuck in this bloody bed, I'd not stop until I decoded all of these ruddy things. This is much more important than anything else I'd be doing." He shuddered. "Just think, if this were happening twenty years ago…instead of that Drake boy, it might have been _me _in that Black Slumber. Harry, really, I'm glad to do it."

Harry's heart was warmed by Seamus' dedication to the cause. "Thanks, Seamus. Have you found anything new?"

Seamus frowned as he turned back to the photograph. "This second tablet's giving me some trouble," he confessed. "I think they encoded it doubly, even after playing around with the characters. It's a code I might not be familiar with…you know, this may go even faster if you let some other rune specialists see it," he suggested.

"I'd have to get clearance," Harry said wearily. "That's no easy task."

"It's worth it, if we can solve this and stop more kids from getting attacked." Seamus shook his head. "You know, Harry, mate, it kills me. Why is it always Hogwarts? Everything always goes through Hogwarts. Why is this wizarding terrorist group targeting Hogwarts, and not, say, Beauxbatons?"

"I couldn't tell you, Seamus. Maybe they're British. Or maybe they're French, and are targeting Hogwarts so that we'll _think _they're British. Maybe they're after Hogwarts because everyone's always said it was the safest, most invincible place around. Even with Dumbledore gone, it's pretty impenetrable."

"Impenetrable, yeah," said Seamus. "Except every time something's gone wrong, it's been because something was working against Hogwarts from the _inside_, something that was put there without force at all. Quirrel. That basilisk thing. Moody's impostor. Umbridge. Professor Sinistra. They didn't just get in, they were _put _there by a Hogwarts _Headmaster_, Harry."

"So what you're saying," said Harry in a strangled voice, "Is that the Preservatists must have someone working _within_ Hogwarts?"

Seamus stared at him. "No, that's not what I was…but…_Jay_-sus, Harry," he whistled, "doesn't that sound like it might be the truth?"

"I have to go," Harry jumped up, "Seamus, you're a right genius. Thanks again," and he ran out the door.

As he sprinted towards the first floor of the wizard hospital, Harry mentally kicked himself and thought, _you'd think we would have learned from our mistakes by now…_

----------------------------

A/N. Okay. But still. It'll get even BETTER, I PROMISE.

To the tune of "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix A Lot

I like reviews and I cannot lie!

You other brothers can't deny

That when I get an alert for a brand new review

A big smile attacks my face and I'm SPRUNG

Want to do a happy dance cause I notice that I've got FANS!

Deep in my heart I'm singing, so loud that my ears are ringing

Oh baby, I want to keep writing, these reviews are so inviting!

My homeboys try to stop me, but that review you left makes me so happy!

OOH! All my friends want to make me get into their Benz,

Well excuse me, someone reviewed me, and I'm gonna keep writing – sue me!

You see me dancing….JESUS CHRIST I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW LONG THE FIRST VERSE OF THIS SONG IS. I'm sorry, but I can't finish it, I just can't. It already makes little to no sense. So for the love of god, just review. Lol. Thanks!


	13. Are Doomed To Repeat Them

Chapter 13 – Are Doomed to Repeat Them

"Well, I think that's everyone in the year," said Nora, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand as she moved away from the list of first years.

"No," said Nick, "I still haven't found out Amanda Eilmann."

"She's Muggle-born," said Nora, remembering the nervous girl from the boat ride to Hogwarts, and put an X next to Amanda's name, which, indeed, had been unmarked. "She told me on the first day of school."

"Really?" asked Nick, genuinely surprised. "She talked to you?"

"Why's that so surprising?"

"Because, well, the reason she was still an unknown's because she…doesn't really have any friends," said Nick uncomfortably. "And any time someone tries to be nice to her, she just ignores them…prefers to be alone, doing her homework." Nick shrugged.

"Maybe, because she's Muggle-born, she really does need the extra time to learn things," Vin suggested.

"It'd be easier if she just made friends with people that have been around magic, who could tell her what she needs to know," said Kincaid. "Maybe she's just scared, or doesn't like meeting new people."

"Well, in the spirit of the Inter-House Alliance, we should go out of our way to make her feel included," said Pallas, her jaw set.

They nodded. "Well, next we have to do the second years," said Nora, getting them back on subject. "How many targets do we have in the first year?"

"Morag, Jeff, Shelby, Jake, Braden and Matthew," said Pallas, counting on her fingers.

"Two from each House," Kincaid frowned. "That's a little too convenient."

"The world's an imperfect place," Nora waved him off. "Besides, we're not counting kids that have one wizard parent and one Muggle-born wizard parent."

"Fair enough." Kincaid glanced at his watch. "We should probably be getting back soon, but today's the day we have to pick someone new for our group. "Anyone have a candidate?"

"I do," Nora said immediately. "Morag Alcott."

"Does that have anything to do with the fact that she's your best friend in Gryffindor?" asked Vin teasingly.

"No, not at all. Besides the fact that she's got the same attitude as we do, the whole blood-doesn't-necessarily-mean-anything mindset, she's a target. I think that if we _told _her that she's in danger, she could look out for herself and it'd save us the trouble of having an unsuspecting target on our hands."

They all looked thoughtful. "That makes sense, actually," Pallas conceded.

"How'd you know she's got the same attitude as we do?" asked Nick, out of curiosity.

Nora looked at Vin. "My dad had the bright idea of trying to make me stop talking to Vin. Because he's somehow distantly related to a family of Voldemort's supporters. And, well, Morag came upstairs and basically gave me a speech about how the person can be born into a family but doesn't necessarily have to follow in his family's footsteps. And she has a lot of passion, apparently, because some kids used to make fun of her brother for having a Muggle dad, and she's determined to prove them wrong."

"Well, that's good enough for me," said Vin. "Especially because I just plain like the girl."

"Yeah, she's really nice," Pallas agreed.

"I vote for Morag too," said Nick promptly.

They all looked at Kincaid expectantly, who merely smiled wryly. "Well, I know I'm being a terrible Slytherin by letting a _third _Gryffindor in, but it sounds great to me," he said with a laugh.

Nora clapped gleefully. "Ooh, this is great!" she exclaimed. "Vin, we can tell her as soon as we leave."

"Okay, fine," Vin nodded.

"That about wraps it up for today," said Pallas, rising. "We'll start finding out the second years for next time…hey, now that we'll have Morag, maybe it'll go faster?"

"Exactly," said Kincaid approvingly.

--------------------------

"So…are you in?" asked Nora tentatively.

Morag looked from Nora to Vin and back again. "Are you _crazy_? Of course I'm in! We have to help make sure that no more half-bloods like me get the Black Slumber!"

Nora and Vin both sighed with visible relief. "Okay, wonderful. What we need your help with now is just to help find out the bloodlines of the second years…but if you find out someone else's, that's fine too, we just want to get an idea of who's a target and maybe keep a closer watch on them, you know?"

"Definitely," said Morag. "So you're saying that you've already mapped out our year? How many targets besides me?"

"Five," said Vin at once.

"Five out of…what, thirty-one? Thirty-one, right? So figure it's about one-sixth of every year, therefore one-sixth of Hogwarts as a whole. One in every six people is a target." Morag's face fell. "We're going to need a lot more than six people if we want to keep an eye on all of them."

Nora's mouth had opened slightly. "Why…yes, I suppose you're right. One in six." She looked at Vin, who was just as impressed. It had never occurred to any of them to view their problem as a mathematical one.

"But what I want to know is, how can the Preservatists _tell_?" said Morag, frowning.

"Tell what?"

"The difference between a half-blood like me and a half-blood like Nora," said Morag. "Wizards can't just _sense _what someone's parentage is. There's got to be some kind of charm, or potion that tells them."

"Or a device?" said Nora. "I mean, my mum always wonders how Lucius Malfoy knew from the very start that she was Muggle-born."

"Or maybe a magical creature," said Vin pensively. "You know how kneazels can sniff out who's an Animagus? Maybe there's an animal than can sniff out bloodlines."

"Yes!" said Nora, a look of comprehension on her face. "Like in my parents' second year, when there was a basilisk attacking all the Muggle-borns! It _knew _who was a Muggle-born, it attacked my mum and a bunch of others!"

"We should go down to the library and ask Madam Pince to give us books on different ways to find out someone's bloodline," said Morag. "We can say it's for a genealogy…that we're giving out parents for Christmas. Or something."

"Good enough," said Nora approvingly. "Wow, Morag, you're in the I.H.A. for all of five minutes and already we've got a whole new focus."

"Well, sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes, a neutral outside observer, you know? I expect that when you let the next person in, it'll be more of the same. Everyone's different, they're bound to see the problem from different angles. For example, my angle is someone that's directly threatened by it, so I've got a more – what's it called? Personal stake? Yeah, personal stake." Morag beamed.

"Well then. I'm glad we decided to let more people in," said Vin with raised eyebrows.

----------------------------

"Hermione!" Harry bellowed from the fireplace. "Ron! Are you home?"

"Hi Uncle Harry!"

Little Troy Weasley had been walking past the door to the study, and stopped when he heard Harry's shouts.

"Hi there, Troy," said Harry weakly. "Mind fetching your mum and dad for me?"

"Sure!" Troy bolted away. Moments later a haggard-looking Hermione appeared, with a pale Ron at her heels.

"Harry! Where have you been, we've been looking for you everywhere – "

"I went to try and research something, Hermione, we need to completely rethink Operation Deluxe, it's something Seamus said that gave me the idea – "

"Harry, please, there's been another attack," said Hermione, her eyes glistening.

"WHAT?" Harry said in anguish, thinking of his son, regardless of the fact that Dane was a pureblood.

Hermione and Ron nodded. "We've just received word from McGonagall," said Ron. "That's why we were looking for you."

"Who was it this time?" asked Harry, dreading the answer.

"A Hufflepuff sixth-year," said Hermione.

"How did it happen?"

"In her sleep," said Ron in a low voice. "Just like the Drake boy…we have to stop these attacks _soon_, because the wizards that we need to lift the Black Slumber aren't going to stick around waiting for the next victim in need of a cure."

"Yes," said Harry firmly. "And I think I know a way to do it. For Operation Deluxe, we were just going to deploy a bunch of those modified Secrecy Sensors that would comb the castle, but I'm not sure that's even worth it. We're forgetting how _vast _Hogwarts is; even if they're continually moving, the caster can always move one step ahead. No, what we're missing is that Hogwarts is impregnable – but it's always been harmed by things that were granted access."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.

"Think about it. In first year, it was Quirrel, right? Appointed by Dumbledore himself. And second year, the basilisk and Tom Riddle's diary, well, one of them was put there by one of Hogwarts' founders and the other came into the school via my wife." Harry's eyes flashed for a moment before he continued. "Wormtail came in your _pocket_, Ron. And Moody was welcomed in with open arms by Dumbledore, too."

"So what are you suggesting we do, get Crookshanks to examine everyone's pets to make sure they're not really a wizard that's thought to have been dead for thirteen years?" asked Ron with a snort.

"No, but…there has to be some way. To screen the teachers, students, belongings, pets. Come on, I know it's ridiculous, but twenty years ago if someone told you that your pet rat is actually a long-dead wizard, you'd have laughed in their face! And it ended up being true, didn't it?"

"All right, fine," Ron said grudgingly.

"How do you plan to 'screen' everything, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Well, that's where we'll need the minds of some other great wizards," said Harry. "I wanted to know if you can summon an emergency meeting on the state of Hogwarts security. I know we're not to meddle at Hogwarts, but there's a clear and present danger, and this warrants brainstorming."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I'll do it, of course," she said. "I'll have to ask Percy and Lucretia to modify my schedule a bit, I've got a meeting with the Portuguese Minister of Magic and one with the Department of Magical Transportation…but," she said, realizing she was babbling, "It'll get done."

"I hope so," said Harry.

"Harry, it can't be comfortable like that, are you sure you don't want to just come in?" asked Ron belatedly.

Harry shook his head. "No, I'm off – oh wait, one more thing, Hermione," he said, glad he had remembered, "Seamus asked if there's anyway we can get some more rune specialists to work on decoding the rest of the tablets."

"I think so…I may be able to get clearance. I'll have Percy draw up a list of rune specialists and Lucretia can do their background checks…but you know, I really don't like the idea of revealing such potentially sensitive information to people that very well may _be _Preservatists."

"Well, if they're Preservatists, then they already know it all, don't they?" asked Ron, sounding tired. "And there's no other way for us to get the information than can stop more attacks."

Hermione sighed. "All right, then. Harry, tell Ginny I say hello."

"Will do, Hermione," said Harry, and his head vanished, leaving Hermione and Ron to watch the ominously crackling fire in contemplative silence.

----------------------------

A/N – hey all. Don't feel like writing a review song right now, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't review! Especially since it'll get even _better _from here on in! So, in the words of Nike, JUST DO IT.


	14. Putting Heads Together

A/N – hooray! I have two new readers! Spread the word, because this fic is GOING PLACES.

Of course, in a few days HBP will come out and people will have gotten the Harry Potter fix they've been waiting for since they finished OotP.

For the record? Kincaid is a guy, haha.

And now you may enjoy the next chapter of…

--------------------------------------  
New Beginnings and Old Wounds

--------------------------------------

Chapter 14 – Putting Heads Together

The next available moment – which occurred several days later, what with all the schoolwork Nora kept postponing while trying to map out the bloodlines of the second-years – found the Inter-House Alliance sitting around the same secluded table in the library that they had utilized at their first meeting. Madam Pince had excitedly fallen for their genealogy-gift excuse; it seemed that she herself had given her parents a family tree for one of their anniversaries, though she had merely owled all her relatives for the names of their ancestors.

"It never occurred to me to use some other kind of magical means, but I'm sure they exist, and this is the place to find them," she said, leading them through the towering shelves and finally withdrawing about ten books.

"Here, how about this one," said Nora, with her finger pointing to a line of _51 Ways to Find Out Your Bloodline_. "It says here that Glinderweed only affects half-bloods…oh, but it causes them to have nosebleeds, we don't want that, do we?"

"Leave a bookmark," said Vin darkly. "When we've found nothing else and the attacks keep coming, I think a little nosebleed won't seem so bad."

"You guys, I've found something!" said Pallas, looking stricken. "It's about the same Mundrings that are used to cast the Black Slumber…apparently they can sniff out bloodlines _perfectly_. In the past, they were used when a mother didn't know for sure who her baby's father was. It not only could tell if the baby was pureblooded or half-blooded, it could tell exactly who the _man _was."

"But they're extinct, aren't they?" asked Nick.

"Oh…that's right, they are," said Pallas, her face falling.

"But still, what if someone's gotten hold of one?" Morag demanded. She had fit in perfectly into their ranks, and was known for coming up with situations that none of the others could have dreamed one. "Just because the Ministry of Magic thinks it's extinct, doesn't mean that some family or other's managed to keep one under wraps. There's got to be a black market somewhere that's gotten tons of money for selling one of these rare beasts to a family like the Malfoys' – sorry, Vin," she added apologetically at the end.

"Don't worry about it," said Vin, unperturbed.

"Well, so what?" said Nick. "So what if there's still a Mundring or two out there somewhere, it's not like we're going to get hold of it any time soon to do our dirty work for us."

"No," said Kincaid out of nowhere – he had not spoken since they had begun their research, deeply involved in whatever he was reading – "But if the Preservatists have got one, that explains how _they _know who's a half wizard, half Muggle."

They sat in awestruck silence. "But what exactly does a Mundring look like?" asked Morag. "You'd think we'd notice it trolling about the castle…"

Pallas supplied, "It's kind of like a badger" just as Vin said, "I'm not so sure about that. The attacks have only come at night, in the dormitories. During the day it could hide anywhere."

"Especially because…well, Mundrings are capable of invisibility, guys. It was in that book my mum sent me." Pallas looked upset that it was she who had to break this news to her friends.

"Well…" said Nick uneasily. "Any idea where we can get some Glinderweed? Hope you don't mind a bit of a nosebleed, Morag and Nora," he said apologetically.

Just then, a girl their age appeared from behind a bookshelf and, seeing them congregated there, stopped in her tracks. She was about to turn away and leave, but Nora recognized her. "Hey, Amanda!" she called with a wave. "Would you like to join us?"

"Erm…no thanks," said Amanda Eilmann with a scared look on her face, and hurried away.

"What are you _thinking_?" Pallas hissed. "She'll see what we're doing and get suspicious!"

"We could have told her that same genealogy bit," said Nora, annoyed, "And whatever happened to going out of our way to be nice to her?"

"As you can see, it fell short," said Nick. "She just doesn't want friends, Nora."

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying," said Nora. "We'll keep trying?"

The rest of the Inter-House Alliance murmured its assent.

"Okay then. I don't know about you all, but I'm rather tired, I think I'm going to turn in," said Nora, yawning and pulling on her waist-length red hair.

"Me too," said Morag and Nick at the same time.

"And me," Pallas and Vin said together – then they exchanged glances and blushed. Nora raised one eyebrow but said nothing.

"I'm going to stay and read up on Glinderweed," said Kincaid. "See if there's a way we can obtain it from Sprout somehow, you know…or else I'll ask my parents to send some, say I've run out of it in my potions ingredients." And he stood and strode into one of the bookshelves, his head down, probably in search of _1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi_. Nora felt a tug at her heartstrings, to see him so committed to their cause that he was giving up sleep for it.

"Well, goodnight everyone," said Nora, 'everyone' being Nick and Pallas, as Vin and Morag were headed to the same place she was.

"What are you lot doing up so late?" demanded a portrait of a harassed-looking Asian wizard.

"It's not late," Morag protested. "It's just ten thirty."

"Well, in Japan it's much later, I guess that's where I got confused, " said the wizard grumpily. "Going from portrait to portrait between time zones is no cup of tea, let me tell you. If you ever get more than one done of you, make sure they all stay between the same two meridian lines, eh?"

"Duly noted, for future reference," said Vin with a minor salute.

"Plus that dratted messenger came through here while I was dozing last night, and I'm a light sleeper, right? So he wakes me up, and before I can even yell at him he's gone off into the next portrait."

"What messenger?" asked Morag.

"I'm sure you've seen him before," said the Asian wizard, playing idly with the collar of his robe. "He runs messages for all the portraits. He's the reason that Blair Rostrom and Alain Keeling got married, you know. Ferried all the love notes from secret admirers, and then the two correspondents decided to meet one day, right over in that meadow off of the west wing. They asked Dumbledore – this was back when he was still Head – to have a home painted for them. Now they live together on the fourth floor."

A young witch in a portrait nearby was gazing at the Asian wizard raptly, her eyes misty. "Well, if that isn't the sweetest thing you've ever heard," she said, wiping her eyes.

"I'm sure it'll happen for you too, Wanda," said the Asian wizard kindly.

"Thank you, Hattori," she said, blowing her nose into an enormous embroidered handkerchief.

The three of them walked away, stifling laughter.

"Remember, Vin," said Morag in an odd, low voice, "Never let a portrait of yourself leave the time zone!" She and Vin burst out laughing as they rounded a corner.

"He was only trying to give us some advice," Nora objected. "It's obvious it was taking a toll on him. And who knows, maybe we _will _need to use it someday."

"That's the right idea, girl," said the portrait of an obese woman from right behind them, making them all jump. "As for you two," the woman said sternly to Vin and Morag, "You ought listen to Hattori Katsumata a bit more closely. He's a brilliant, brilliant man."

"How'd you know what we were talking about?" Morag asked, affronted.

"We're portraits, we hear nearly everything from each other. We're the eyes and ears of this school, don't you realize?" The woman changed her position on her couch with dignity. "Many a time, a student's life has been saved because of a portrait."

"So…you know to keep a look out for danger?" asked Nora, fit to burst. They had the perfect lookouts!

"Yes, of course," said the obese witch. "Well, there are a few places we can't see – wherever there's no portrait. But everywhere else is covered, I mean really, we're not about to let atrocities take place right underneath our frames," she said with poise.

"That's wonderful," said Nora earnestly, "I feel really safe knowing I've always got you all on my side."

The witch beamed at her. "Well, it's nice to finally see some gratitude, I can tell you that," she said. "Now off to bed with you."

"What was that about?" Vin whispered as they left the overweight woman's portrait.

"It means we've got sentries deployed all over the school, ready to report at the slightest sign of danger," said Nora. "We've got to get an idea of how our enemy moves, don't we? And if the portraits have never detected anything, then that means that either it's invisible, or it only uses passages without portraits in them, or it moves at night, when the portraits are asleep."

"Not all portraits sleep," Morag pointed out. "I mean, look at that Hattori guy, he's probably traveled so much that he's awake whenever the others are asleep and vice versa."

"And what about Ivan the Insomniac, up on the sixth floor?" asked Vin. "Bloke hasn't slept in centuries."

"All right, all right," said Nora impatiently, "But the enemy could also know that, and stay away from hallways that have portraits who don't sleep at night. Still, you get my point, don't you?"

"And what do we do with this information?" asked Morag.

"How about we get some portraits into the places that aren't covered?" said Nora. "We could probably convince them ourselves that the view's better somewhere else. Just take some out of a hallway that's got a whole row of them and put them where they're needed."

"Don't you think that might be a bit suspicious?" Vin frowned.

"Ooh, you know what we can do!" said Morag, positively writhing with pleasure at her forthcoming idea. "We can get together a ton of those girls like the Sandys and their likes, the ones who are always complaining about how musty and gloomy is, and – I don't know – found some sort of club, call it Beautify Hogwarts, and get _them _to take on the project of adding some pretty pictures to the boring ugly hallways! They'd totally go for it!"

"You know, I really wouldn't be surprised if it would work," said Nora, impressed. "Morag, take twenty points to Gryffindor."

Morag flushed. "Well, it's all to stop attacks on half-bloods, right? That's the important thing."

"Yes. Little by little, I think we're getting there, we're definitely thinking the right way," said Nora, satisfied. "But now we really should get back to Gryffindor Tower, before Filch or Norris find us."

"Yeah, after that Beautify Hogwarts plan, I'm sure even Morag's imagination's fresh out of excuses," Vin sniggered as they quietly made their way to the Fat Lady.

---------------------------

A/N – Okay, that chapter definitely got away from me. I wasn't even planning the portrait thing, it just sort of happened, and as a result, Hermione/Harry/Ron's meeting will have to wait for the next chapter. But still, isn't it getting better? I promise it will be AMAZING later.

And now for your listening pleasure, to the tune of "I'd Give My All" by Mariah Carey –

I'm thinking of youuuuuu

In my sleepless solitude tonight

Waiting for a revieeeew

So I know I'm doing something right

Because without you sending me reviews I might just not wriiiiiiiiite

I'd give my alllllll to haaaaave just one review from you

I'd risk my liiiiife to feeeeel the happiness I do

When I check my maaaaaaaail and I see

That someone liked my fic eeeeenough to revieeeew

So pleeeeease revieeeeeew!

(RIDICULOUSLY HIGH SUPERSONIC NOTE) lol

Till next time.

Love,

Nay


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